Sydney: Uber admitted misleading millions of Australian users with ‘free cancellation’ warnings, and is set to receive a huge fine. The admission comes after the company was sued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The ACCC alleged between December 2017 and September 2021 users got shown a misleading warning if they tried to cancel a trip. ‘You may be charged a small fee since your driver is already on their way,’ the warning read.

This was occurring even when consumers were seeking to cancel a ride within Uber’s free five minute cancellation period, the ACCC said.

The ACCC’s chair Cass-Gottlieb said at least two million Aussies got mislead by the warning.

‘Uber admits it misled Australian users for a number of years, and may have caused some of them to decide not to cancel their ride after receiving the cancellation warning, even though they were entitled to cancel, free of charge, under Uber’s own policy,’ she said.