Uber riders across Chicago may have seen a refund appear in their bank accounts Tuesday.
The rideshare company began issuing refunds to city riders who it says were “incorrectly charged a Chicago Congestion Surcharge.”
The company had previously announced that starting Jan. 6, 2025, trips starting or ending in the city’s Central Business District between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. “on all days of the week” would see a $1.50 surcharge for UberX and UberXL rides. The charge would be $0.60 per Pool ride, the company said.
But riders reported noticing the surcharge on rides outside of those hours.
Uber said in an email to riders receiving refunds that the surcharge was applied incorrectly “due to technical issues on our end.”
“We have corrected the error and refunded the incorrectly charged amount to the original payment method of this trip,” the company said in a notice to riders.
The surcharge is among several potential surcharges Uber said Chicago required them to implement.
“In November 2019, the City of Chicago passed an ordinance that charges surcharges on rideshare trips, which may increase the prices riders pay when requesting a ride with Uber. The surcharge will be sent to the City of Chicago, as mandated by the ordinance,” the company said in a post on its website.
Uber has been at the center of numerous headlines in Chicago from the surcharges to recent geofencing restrictions in place to help quell so-called “teen takeovers.”
Officials confirmed to NBC Chicago last month that, at the request of Chicago police, Uber and Lyft may implement unexpected geofencing restrictions to prevent rides in or around spontaneous gatherings of teens in the city that have been at the center of concerns.
