Overview
- The Ministério Público do Trabalho filed a public civil action against Uber on Aug. 25 seeking immediate suspension of the ‘Passe para Motoristas’ program and R$321 million in collective moral damages.
- The Passe lets drivers buy time-based passes (24 or 72 hours) or earnings-based passes to avoid per-ride service fees and is in tests in 29 cities with the Uber Moto option already nationwide.
- Prosecutors say the model can cost drivers more than R$1,000 a month, reverses the platform’s business logic by making drivers pay for access to rides, and offers no guarantee of trips to recover the upfront cost.
- The suit accuses Uber of using unilateral contract terms that let the company change or cancel passes without refunds and of automatically retaining future driver earnings to cover unpaid passes, a mechanism the MPT says can create permanent indebtedness and a condition similar to servitude by debt.
- The case asks the court to compel Uber to hand over its algorithm source code to examine ride allocation and pricing and is pending judicial analysis, a decision that could set new rules on platform transparency and driver protections while Uber has issued mixed or no public responses.