Uber Pays Australian Taxi Drivers $178 Million in Settlement

Uber agreed to pay A$271.8 million ($178 million) to compensate thousands of taxi drivers in Australia who claimed they lost income when the ride-share company entered the local market.

Uber Technologies Inc. settled the class action brought by more than 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, which filed the suit in 2019, said Monday. The law firm described the payment as the fifth-largest class action settlement in Australian legal history.

“Uber has been held to account for its actions,” Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Principal Michael Donelly said in a statement.

Uber said in a statement it had made “significant contributions” to taxi compensation programs in Australian states since 2018. “With today’s proposed settlement, we put these legacy issues firmly in our past,” it said. The ride-sharing company said it couldn’t comment on details of the agreement.

Uber has tussled with taxi drivers around the world. In December, it won a lawsuit brought against it by 2,500 French taxi drivers, when a Paris court ruled that the company hadn’t committed any act of unfair competition.

Top photo: Uber headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. Uber Technologies Inc. is expected to release earnings figures on November 7. Photographer: Michaela Vatcheva/Bloomberg.