Ride-hailing app giant Uber mistakenly overcharged Chicago riders nearly $1.8 million earlier this year.
An Uber spokesman told City Council members Wednesday morning that the company refunded all riders after realizing it misapplied a congestion tax outside of hours it was allowed to.
But, in a special committee hearing on the matter, the company said it is still waiting for its own refund from the City of Chicago — which has kept around $1.3 million of the overcharges.
It’s unclear when the city may issue it’s own refund to Uber.
The Department of Finance is waiting for Uber to provide “additional documentation” to verify the refund amount, Brian Carlson, deputy director of the department’s tax enforcement division, told City Council members.
The special hearing was called by Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) to “demand answers” from Uber about the unauthorized surcharges.
During the hearing, Uber spokesman Josh Gold confirmed that the company issued refunds totaling $1,782,193.50, a number reported hours earlier by Block Club Chicago.
The downtown congestion fee was first imposed on ride-hailing cars in 2020 to help cut down on traffic. The tax initially applied to rides between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. But the tax was expanded to all days of the week starting Jan. 6, 2025, to help cover a budget gap.
But that’s not what happened.
Gold said the surcharges were misapplied to some riders due to a “technical misstep” when updating the company’s system in December to apply the new daily surcharges.
The tax revenue increased on Uber’s end, but that didn’t raise any alarm bells because “it was not unexpected,” Gold said.
He said the company notified the city in May, a day after the company realized the charges were misapplied after a media inquiry. Gold said 99.9% of riders were refunded within two weeks. All riders had been refunded within five weeks, he said.
The overcharge spawned an investigation by the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection and Wednesday’s hearing with the City Council’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), the only alderperson besides Silvertein to ask a question in the five-minute hearing, said he wants to revisit the $1.50 downtown surcharge in general, since it affects many hospitality workers who use ride-hailing apps to commute from work.