On Monday, Uber (UBER.N) agreed to pay A$271.8 million ($178 million) to resolve a lawsuit filed by Australian taxi operators and drivers, who claimed they lost money when the ride-hailing company entered the nation. This settlement, announced by a legal firm, marks a significant step towards addressing the financial grievances raised by the plaintiffs.
According to a statement from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, the compensation is the fifth-largest in Australia.
In 2019, the Supreme Court of Victoria State launched a class action lawsuit accusing Uber of violating regulations requiring licenses for taxis and hire cars. Over 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers were represented in the lawsuit.
When Uber entered the market in 2012, it stole money from licensed taxi drivers while eroding the value of the licenses they had paid for. Consequently, the complaint claims this action significantly impacted the livelihoods of these drivers.
Uber claimed it has never intentionally broken the law.
According to a statement from Michael Donelly, the principal of Maurice Blackburn, Uber “fought tooth and nail at every point along the way.”
“After years of refusing to do the right thing by those we say they harmed, Uber has blinked,” he stated.
An Uber representative stated in an email that since 2018, the business has made contributions to state-level taxi compensation plans. Additionally, with today’s proposed settlement, they assertively put these legacy issues firmly in their past.
In its answer, Uber omitted to mention the proposed settlement.
Former legislator Rod Barton, a class action plaintiff, stated that the settlement supported his suspicion that Uber had purposefully circumvented the nation’s laws governing taxi licensing. Consequently, Barton emphasized the significance of the settlement in highlighting Uber’s actions.
Barton informed the Australian Broadcasting Corp., “They knew full well they were required to have their drivers and their vehicles fully licenced.”
“They chose not to do that, and they did a lot of things that gave them a commercial advantage against the taxi industry, which established their foothold,” he stated.
In 2015, a reform in the law permitted Uber to operate without a taxi license. Additionally, state governments established compensation plans for both license holders and taxi drivers.
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