It’s just one thing after another for Uber Inc. these days. In the latest in a seemingly endless series of mishaps, the wacky cab company has just been hit with a pair of lawsuits in Los Angeles and San Francisco for engaging in “unlawful business practices”.

The IDG News service reports district attorneys in both cities have slapped Uber with civil consumer protection lawsuits. In California, the complaint alleges Uber has made “false or misleading statements to consumers and for engaging in a variety of business practices which violate California law.” The district attorneys have asked for Uber to make a number of changes to its business model and marketing, regarding how it charges customers, tracks and reports mileage to authorities and describes background checks conducted on its drivers.

The complaints also say Uber should be made to reimburse passengers for the $1 “Safe Rides” fee it charges on each trip, which is supposed to pay for its driver background checks. The district attorneys say those checks are misleading as they aren’t nearly as rigorous as those performed by regular taxi companies.

The charges against Uber come shortly after rival cab service Lyft paid a $500,000 settlement in relation to similar complaints in the cities.

This isn’t the first time Uber’s landed in hot water due to its inadequate background checks. Earlier this week, the service was sensationally banned in New Delhi, India, after the alleged rape of a passenger by one of its drivers, who was apparently unverified. In the same week, Uber has also been banned in Nevada and the city of Portland, while Thailand has suspended the service for flouting local laws there – though in the latter case, Uber has apparently ignored the ban in the hopes that Thai authorities will simply forget about it.

Uber’s problems were perhaps inevitable in light of the success the company has had. Uber is becoming something of a poster child for the perils of disruption – it’s taking on some big industries and beating them at their own game, and now its competitors are fighting back in any way it can.

With that in mind, it’s good to know that Uber is at least trying to make its service safer for passengers. This week the company rolled out a new feature for its customers in Colombia that will likely appear in other countries if it’s succesfull. Colombian Uber-ites are now able to share their driver’s ID, planned routes and current locatoon with friends and family, so their loved ones can keep track of them in real-time and ensure they’re kept safe.

It’s a reassuring new safety feature, especially for countries with high crime rates. Latin American countries in particular have a big problem with unlicensed taxis robbing or ripping off passengers, and so anything that can make people’s trips a little safer is certainly going to be welcomed in those parts of the world.

Main image credit: Uber.com