Uber to pay $178 million in Australia taxi class action settlement

Uber settles Australian lawsuit for $178 million, accused of harming taxi industry, violating licensing laws.

Uber has agreed to pay A$271.8 million ($178 million) to settle a lawsuit brought by Australian taxi operators and drivers, who say they lost income when the ride-hailing company moved into the country, a law firm said on Mrach 18.

The settlement is Australia's fifth-largest, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers said in a statement.

The class action suit was filed in 2019 in the Supreme Court of Victoria state on behalf more than 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers, accusing Uber of breaking laws requiring taxis and hire cars to be licenced.

Uber's 2012 arrival in the market took revenue from licenced taxi drivers while destroying the value of the licences they had paid for, according to the lawsuit.

Uber had said it never knowingly broke the law.

"Uber fought tooth and nail at every point along the way," Maurice Blackburn Principal Michael Donelly said in a statement.

"After years of refusing to do the right thing by those we say they harmed, Uber has blinked," he said.