(Bloomberg) — Uber Technology Inc. added a disclosure to its food delivery app saying menu item prices may be higher than those charged by restaurants, bowing to pressure from attorneys general.
The disclaimer will only be shown to customers in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., after the attorneys general there pressed for a concession from the company. They said in a joint statement Tuesday that the change will offer customers more price transparency.
Before customers finalize an order, Uber will show a message that reads, “Prices may be lower in store.”
Uber said there were already a number of disclosures in the app and that it agreed to add the new one at the requests of state officials. “Merchants set their own prices for items listed on Uber Eats,” an Uber spokesman said in an emailed statement. “We think it’s important to provide this flexibility to our merchant partners, especially during the recovery of local commerce.”
The move comes amid growing frustration from consumers rankled by high fees by Uber and other food-delivery companies like DoorDash Inc. and Grubhub. Companies have also faced mounting scrutiny from lawmakers for charging commissions that can reach as much as 30% of an order, squeezing small businesses’ already razor-thin margins.
“Online food delivery platforms can be very convenient, but hidden fees have driven up costs for consumers and hurt struggling neighborhood restaurants at the worst time,” Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania attorney general, said in the statement. “You deserve to know where your money is going.”
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