Uber to Cap Prices During Emergencies Following Agreement with NY AG
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Photo Illustration by David Ramos/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced an agreement with app-based car service provider Uber on Tuesday, ensuring that the company limits its prices to a normal range during emergencies to prevent price gouging.
The agreement classifies emergencies and natural disasters as “abnormal disruptions of the market,” and Uber is expected to announce a new national policy that will limit pricing during such situations. The policy, according to Travis Kalanick, CEO and co-founder of Uber, “intends to strike the careful balance between the goal of transportation availability with community expectations of affordability during disasters.”
Uber does not set a single, fixed price for its rides, instead using dynamic rates based largely on demand. Under the new agreement and its forthcoming policy, Uber will set pricing caps for such market disruptions. The agreement will apply to all Uber services that use dynamic pricing.
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