UBER PAYS $178M TO SETTLE LAWSUIT WITH AUSTRALIAN TAXI DRIVERS

Mon 18 March 2024:

In order to resolve a lawsuit brought by Australian taxi and hire car drivers who claim they lost money to the ride-hailing app, Uber has agreed to pay $178 million, a law firm has announced.

The class action was filed in 2019 on behalf of over 8,000 taxi and hire vehicle owners and drivers. Maurice Blackburn Lawyers said the victory was among the most successful legal proceedings against the ride-sharing giant ever.

“Uber fought tooth and nail at every point along the way, every day, for the five years this has been on foot, trying at every turn to deny our group members any form of remedy or compensation for their losses,” Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Principal Michael Donelly said in a statement on Monday.

“But on the courtroom steps and after years of refusing to do the right thing by those we say they harmed, Uber has blinked, and thousands of everyday Australians joined together to stare down a global giant.”

“This will be one of the top five class action settlements in Australian legal history – putting beyond any doubt that Uber has been held to account for its actions,” Donelly added.

Uber said that it had made “significant” contributions to various state-level taxi compensation schemes since 2018 and that the settlement put “these legacy issues firmly in our past”.

 Uber will continue focusing on helping the millions of Australians who use the service to “get from A to B in a safe, affordable and reliable manner”, the company added.