Uber fined ₹9,226 crore over driver account suspensions without human review: 'Serious infringements'

The Dutch data protection watchdog has fined ride-hailing app Uber €825 million, around ₹9,226 crore, for suspending driver accounts through automated systems without a prior “warning," according to news agency Reuters. The regulator said the deactivations were "serious infringements" and that drivers should have been informed.

"Uber has committed serious infringements," in deactivating driver accounts without warning or human involvement, the organisation's deputy chair Monique Verdier was quoted as saying by the news agency.

"From one moment to the next they no longer had any income ... A computer should not make decisions on its own that have (such) major consequences," it added.

Reacting to the penalty, Uber said it takes drivers' rights seriously and stated: "We strongly disagree with this decision and disproportionate fine," a spokesperson said, adding that the company has policies in place that include human reviews and opportunities for drivers to challenge platform suspensions.

European regulators have imposed billions of euros in penalties on major US technology companies in recent years for breaches of privacy, competition and digital market rules.

Meta, Google, Apple and Amazon have all faced multiple fines, although some of the largest penalties have later been reduced or overturned following lengthy appeals.

US President Donald Trump has criticised the penalties. In April, a US State Department official described the fines as the "biggest single source of friction" in US-EU economic relations.

GDPR rules on automated decisions

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), companies cannot rely solely on computer algorithms to make decisions that have a significant effect on people's lives. Such decisions must involve meaningful human oversight and give people an opportunity to challenge them.

The Uber case relates to incidents in Europe between 2018 and 2022 and began with a complaint filed in France. The investigation was taken up by the Dutch regulator because Uber's European headquarters are based in the Netherlands.

Uber's system suspended drivers

Uber temporarily suspended some drivers suspected of fraudulent activity. This included cases where its systems found that drivers had taken unnecessary detours to increase fares or accepted journeys without intending to complete them.

The company said such suspensions were generally short-lived and that it did not permanently deactivate drivers without human involvement.

However, the Dutch regulator said drivers with low customer ratings were sometimes permanently deactivated automatically.

Uber rejected that finding, maintaining that it had never used an automated system to make permanent deactivation decisions.

Uber calls fine disproportionate

Uber also argued that the penalty was excessive because only a limited number of drivers were affected. The company said 126 drivers across Europe were deactivated in 2021 because of low customer ratings.

The Dutch regulator said the amount of the fine was calculated based on a proportion of Uber's annual turnover for 2025.

(With inputs from agency)