Australia fines Uber A$21m for misleading advertisements about fares and cancellation fees

AN AUSTRALIAN court fined Uber Technologies Inc A$21 million (S$19.1 million) on Wednesday for threatening cancellation fees it never charged and overstating fare estimates on some rides, lower than a regulator wanted but a setback for the company. The Australian arm of the US ride-sharing app maker broke consumer law by misleading customers with warnings they would be charged for cancelling some rides from 2017 to 2021, and by using an inaccurate software algorithm to estimate fares for a taxi service it offered until August 2020, the federal court ruled. REUTERS