Just this morning there was a story on NPR about how Uber has price-gouging built into their system: during a snowstorm you may pay something like 5x the normal fare.
I don't know the specifics of that story, or whether they actually have built the factor of 5X into their system, but note that some "price-gouging" is simply built into the system of supply and demand. If drivers are more scarce during bad weather, it's natural (in some sense) that the price would rise.
If you're going to call it "price-gouging", let's at least admit it's a natural part of business. Take a look at hotel rates when there's a near-by convention, air-line ticket prices over the Christmas holidays or even the prices quoted by corporate sales at businesses like Cisco, Oracle, etc.
There's not a law that says you have to charge everyone the same rate - just that you can't base it on certain types of discrimination.
Note: I'm okay with calling all those practices "price-gouging".
The idea is that jacking up prices to take advantage of adverse conditions or emergencies is not the same as normal supply-and-demand based pricing in response to seasonal variations, etc. I don't know if Uber's practice fits the definition in the statute or if they're being investigated for it.
Uber has stated that their pricing is based on the number of people requesting rides (within some time slot if I remember correctly). So a snow storm might be deemed a natural disaster, but it might also lead to more people requesting rides (also triggering the price increases).
Yes, if there's not an increased demand during that snow-storm but they're caught with 5X prices, I think they'll be in trouble under those "price-gouging" laws.
The idea is that it warns you first and you agree to the increased price because you really want the car. This makes them more money (obviously) but it also incentivizes more drivers to get on the road when demand far outstrips supply.
I personally feel like that's not price gouging, so long as it isn't your only method of transportation. If you were very price conscious, you would probably be using a cheaper Uber competitor to begin with.
Here's another NPR story about price gouging: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/10/29/163861383/why-econ...