Uber to pay $272 million in landmark taxi class action settlement

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In what is Australia’s fifth-largest settlement, Uber has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the taxi industry.


Rideshare pioneer Uber has agreed to pay $271.8 million to taxi and hire-car drivers and owners from four Australian states to settle a class action launched five years ago.

Website Lawyerly reports Uber agreed to the multi-million dollar settlement on the eve of the trial beginning in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The class action claimed Uber had reduced the value of the taxi industry’s services when it launched its allegedly unlawful rideshare operations in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia.

Taxi and hire-car owners each paid government-sanctioned authorities tens of thousands of dollars for licences to run their businesses – with the heavily-regulated industry requiring drivers be specially trained, and their vehicles fitted out with expensive equipment such as cameras and meters.

Meanwhile, Uber allegedly allowed private drivers to use their own cars to ferry passengers without the scrupulous oversight required in the taxi industry – allowing the company to offer lower fares – while paying fines issued by regulators on behalf of its drivers.

A judge has upheld an earlier decision which ruled communications between Uber and its legal team were not entitled to client-lawyer protection, as the emails were made “in furtherance of offences at the centre of the claims,” according to the report.

It’s understood the $271.8 million settlement is the fifth largest in Australia, with the money to be distributed among the 8000 members of the class action.

Ben Zachariah

Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades. Ben began writing professionally more than 15 years ago and was previously an interstate truck driver. He completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021 and is considered an expert on classic car investment.

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