Uber Sued Over 'Robo-Texts' to Austin Citizens for Election Battle

Uber recently faced a class-action lawsuit last Wednesday for continuous robot text messages that the company was allegedly sending customers in Austin. It was said that it was to support a controversial referendum on the ballot last Saturday.

According to Scoop Nest, the suit which was filed in federal court said that Uber violated the federal Telephone Protection Act by the simple desire to send thousands of unwanted text messages to Uber users in the said city, without the necessary permission of the said consumers. The statement that the court issued looks to inform the public what exactly the repercussions can be, as well as why it is such a drastic matter.

As per TX News Feed, Melissa Cubria of the U.S. District Court for the Western District was quoted on her lawsuit file, saying, "Uber has violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ... by robo-texting thousands of unwanted text messages to the cell phones of thousands of Uber users in Austin, Texas - all without the prior express consent of those receiving Uber's text messages - as part of a political campaign by Uber to oppose mandates from the City of Austin which impose various background check procedures for Uber drivers."

Texas Tribune delivered that Austin voters will decide this coming Saturday which of the regulations the city will accept for vehicle-for-hire companies. To go into details, the voting is regarding if the city is to undergo an ordinance backed by Uber and Lyft in which the city will prevent the requirement of drivers having to take fingerprint-based background checks.

Under the condition that the ordinance is not to be adopted, both Uber and Lyft have promised to exit the city soon enough. A group funded exclusively by Uber and Lyft, known as Ridesharing Works for Austin, has released an ad campaign in support of the proposed ordinance that comprises of former Austin Mayor Lee Leffindwell, as well as Battleship and X-Men Origins: Wolverine actor Taylor Kitsch. 

Tags

Uber, Robo-Text Case, Austin Texas Elections

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