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July 18 (UPI) -- Uber will pay millions of dollars for overcharging people with disabilities and will modify its wait time fee policy to prevent future discrimination, the Justice Department announced Monday. The ride share company reached a settlement with the government after federal officials accused it of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, Justice Department officials announced.
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Under the deal, Uber will be required to "offer several million dollars in compensation" to more than 65,000 disabled passengers who were charged wait time fees, which are typically less than a dollar, because it took them longer to enter ride share cars.
"People with disabilities should not be made to feel like second-class citizens or punished because of their disability, which is exactly what Uber's wait time fee policy did," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke said. "This agreement sends a strong message that Uber and other ride sharing companies will be held accountable if their services discriminate against people with disabilities."
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit last year in California. The complaint said Uber's practice of charging a wait time fee, which starts two minutes after an Uber driver arrives at the pickup location and stops when the trip begins, discriminates against those who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices.
"Many passengers with disabilities require more than two minutes to board or load into a vehicle for various reasons, including because they may use mobility aids and devices such as wheelchairs and walkers that need to be broken down and stored in the vehicles or because they simply need additional time to board the vehicle," the complaint said.
Uber modified its wait time policy shortly after the suit was filed last year and said it was pleased to have reached an agreement.
"It has long been our policy to refund wait time fees for riders with a disability when they alerted us that they were charged, and prior to this matter being filed we made changes," a spokesman said Monday.
Under the two-year agreement, Uber promises to waive all wait time fees for Uber riders who can certify they need more time to get into a car because of a disability. The company will also credit the accounts of eligible riders for double the amount of wait time fees they were charged.
"Ensuring equal access to transportation for those with disabilities is an important goal of the ADA," U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds for the Northern District of California said in a statement.
"This agreement removes that barrier to equal access for passengers with disabilities and provides a mechanism to compensate those harmed by Uber's past wait time fee policy," she added.
