Uber announced Monday that it will now cap prices during emergencies in all U.S. cities.
The ride-sharing service says it will limit prices during "abnormal disruptions of the market," including disasters and states of emergency.
In the past, Uber has been criticized for jacking up prices during disasters, when rides are in high demand. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the company allowed prices to surge -- at some points doubling the normal fare.
This new policy aims to prevent price surging in the future.
Specifically, the price will always stay below that of the three highest-priced, non-emergency days of the preceding 2 months, according to a recent blog post on Uber's website. The policy applies to all Uber services that use dynamic pricing, including UberX, Uber Black and Uber SUV.
New York Attorney General Eric Scheiderman reached the agreement with Uber, and the company applied the policy nationwide.
"It provides consumers with critical protections to which they are entitled under the law," said Scheiderman in a press release.
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"And it provides Uber with clarity from government about how the law will be applied to its innovative pricing model."
In the blog post, C.E.O. and co-founder of Uber Travis Kalanick said the new policy finds the "careful balance" between the goal of available transportation and what the community expects during disasters.
Uber also announced that during national disasters and states of emergency they will donate 20 percent of the total fare to the American Red Cross's disaster relief effort.
