Uber Eats offers free delivery for black-owned restaurants after ride service and Lyft were slammed for shutting down in cities across the country as demonstrators protested past curfew

Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday launched a feature on its food delivery app Uber Eats that lets customers in the United States and Canada order from restaurants owned by black people and pay no delivery fees for those orders through 2020.

The feature comes in response to U.S.-wide protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, which has become the latest flashpoint for rage over police brutality against African Americans and prompted calls to support black communities and businesses in solidarity.

Customers who open the Uber Eats app in major U.S. and Canadian cities will see a banner reading: 'Support Black-owned restaurants,' and are provided with a list of nearby restaurants.

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Customers who open the Uber Eats app in major U.S. and Canadian cities will see a banner reading: 'Support Black-owned restaurants,' and are provided with a list of nearby restaurants

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Delivery fees for those orders are being waived until the end of the year, Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a Thursday email to U.S. customers

Delivery fees for those orders are being waived until the end of the year, Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a Thursday email to U.S. customers.

The CEO also said that Uber in coming weeks would offer discounted ride-hailing trips to black-owned small businesses that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Khosrowshahi also committed to making the company more diverse internally. In 2019, some 45% of Uber's U.S. employees were white, 33% Asian, 9% black and 8% Hispanic, a company report showed.

The new feature to support black-owned businesses on Uber's food delivery app is a response to requests from customers, the company said.

The restaurants were compiled by Uber employees based on publicly available sources and with input from local organizations and business associations.

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Shares for the company have gone up 2.14 per cent

Uber said it did not ask restaurants for information on race when including them on its platform. Restaurants were informed about the initiative ahead of time and can opt out of the program, as well as refer other black-owned restaurants not yet included. 

Protesters demonstrating in cities across the United States have decried the shutting down of ride services like Uber and Lyft and cities go on lockdown for curfew.

Request to temporarily shut down service were made by New York City officials. Service was shut down from 8pm to 12:30am on Tuesday night, CNN Business reports. 

Services have also been suspended in Santa Monica and Los Angeles and in Minneapolis. 

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Protesters demonstrating in cities across the United States have decried the shutting down of ride services like Uber and Lyft and cities go on lockdown for curfew