Ride-hailing company Uber has been fined $966 ‌million (€825 million) by the Dutch Data Protection Authority over automated suspension and deactivation of drivers’ accounts.

Uber used automated systems to suspend some European drivers between 2018 and 2022 without human reviews or informing the affected people, Reuters reported on Friday, citing the Dutch agency’s August 17 decision.

During the period, the company suspended some accounts over suspected fraudulent activities, including drivers taking unnecessary detours to increase fares and accepting trips without intending to complete them.

The case followed complaints by French drivers against Uber and is being handled by the Dutch regulator because Uber’s European headquarters are in The Netherlands.

The regulator also alleged that Uber deactivated accounts of drivers with low customer ratings through automated systems.

According to the agency, the fine against Uber was calculated based on its 2025 turnover.

Its deputy chair, Monique Verdier, criticised Uber’s decisions and questioned why computers were allowed to make decisions without human involvement.

She underscored the negative impact of the decisions on the livelihoods of affected drivers.

“Uber has committed serious infringements,” Ms Verdier said. “From one moment to the next, they no longer had any income … A computer should not make decisions on its own that have (such) major consequences.”

However, Uber said it disagreed with the regulator’s decision and said it would file an appeal.

The company described the fine as “disproportionate,” saying only a handful of operators were deactivated, according to Reuters. It added that 126 of them were affected in Europe due to low customer ratings in 2021.

A spokesperson for Uber also denied that policies were implemented without human reviews, noting that the company allows drivers to challenge decisions on its platform.

The spokesperson said suspensions were usually brief, adding that permanent deactivation did not occur without human involvement.

The fine is the second-largest imposed under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), with the largest being a €1.2 billion fine imposed on Meta in 2023 by Ireland for unlawfully transferring European Facebook users’ data to the United States of America. Meta is appealing the decision.

Under its rules, the GDPR prohibits decisions made by computer algorithms when they significantly affect people’s lives and maintains that decisions must include human involvement.

In recent years, European regulators imposed fines on Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon over privacy concerns, competition and digital market violations.