Maryland is among nearly two dozen state, federal and local agencies suing Uber for “deceptive enrollment, billing and cancellation practices” through its Uber One subscription service.

Attorney General Anthony Brown and the state’s Consumer Protection Division announced Monday they are seeking restitution from Uber for customers who subscribed to its Uber One service. Brown’s office accuses Uber of unfairly charging customers without their consent and failing to offer simple mechanisms to stop charges.

Attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin are also suing, joining a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission in April.

Uber One is a subscription-based service that promises no-cost delivery fees as well as savings and credits when using Uber and Uber Eats. People can purchase monthly memberships for $9.99 per month and yearly memberships for $96, according to the company’s website.

First-time users are eligible for a free trial — which, Brown said in a news release, is where issues arise.

“Free trials should actually be free — not traps that lock Marylanders into unwanted monthly charges,” Brown said in a news release. “We’re filing this lawsuit to stop Uber’s practices that we believe are deceiving consumers and costing them their hard-earned money.”

However, representatives from Uber argue otherwise. They said they did not sign consumers up for the service or charge them for it without their consent. The company noted that consumers can cancel their Uber One subscription at any time, a fact visible on a user’s screen when they sign up for the subscription.

If a customer cancels within 24 hours of their coming billing date, they risk being charged, but Uber representatives said they will be refunded. They acknowledged this wasn’t always the case. Before December 2024, users had to call customer service at least two days before their next billing period to cancel. The process now takes about 20 seconds or less, representatives said.

“If this lawsuit were to succeed, it would upend how virtually every modern subscription service operates,” Uber personnel said in a statement. “The FTC, and the states that have decided to join this misguided lawsuit, are wrong, and we will vigorously defend these claims in court.”