Uber Eats forced to amend ‘unfair’ contract that penalised restaurants
Uber Eats will amend its contracts to remove unfair terms that penalise restaurant owners.
Uber Eats's contracts have terms which shift most of the blame for botched deliveries onto restaurateurs even if it is not their fault by claiming it is not a “delivery” service and its riders are “agents” of the restaurant.
"Uber Eats has committed to changing its contract terms that we believe are unfair, because they make restaurants responsible and financially liable for elements outside of their control," said Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
"We consider these terms to be unfair because they appear to cause a significant imbalance between restaurants and Uber Eats.
"The terms were not reasonably necessary to protect Uber Eats and could cause detriment to restaurants."
Uber Eats has agreed to amend its contractual terms to state restaurants would only be responsible for matters "within their control". Previously restaurants could be held responsible if the problem stemmed from the delivery such as wrong food items, and incorrect or missing orders or no delivery at all.
Restaurants will also be given the right to dispute with Uber Eats who should be responsible for any refunds to customers.
The ACCC said it will continue to monitor Uber Eats to ensure it "does not [unfairly] hold anyone else responsible for parts of the service it controls".
Uber Eats' regional general manager Jodie Auster said they were pleased to have been able to “engage constructively” with the ACCC to resolve the matter.
"Some of the key changes we'll be making to our contracts include providing more detailed information about our technology services, as well as greater clarity on how we handle complaints and process payments,” she said.
“We place a lot of value on establishing long-term relationships with our restaurant partners and it’s important that we provide a great partner experience, which includes giving them clear information about what to expect from us in a range of circumstances.”
Sheridan Randall, 18th July 2019
