Rideshare giant Uber has agreed to pay Australian taxi and car rental drivers a $271.8 million class action settlement due to a loss of income and license values in the fifth largest class action settlement in Australian history.
After a five-year legal battle, Uber has agreed to pay millions to Australian taxi and car rental drivers after a class action was filed against it back in 2019, where more than 8000 taxi and hire car owners claimed they’ve lost money when the app arrived into the Australian market.
The settlement is the fifth largest class action in Australian history.
Following the historic settlement, Uber released a statement, saying that the app is “now regulated in every state and territory across Australia”.
“When Uber started more than a decade ago, ridesharing regulations did not exist anywhere in the world, let alone Australia. Today is different, and Uber is now regulated in every state and territory across Australia, and governments recognise us as an important part of the nation’s transport mix,” the spokesperson said.
“The rise of ridesharing has grown Australia’s overall point-to-point transport industry, bringing with it greater choice and improved experiences for consumers, as well as new earnings opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Australian workers.
“Since 2018, Uber has made significant contributions to various state-level taxi compensation schemes, and with today’s proposed settlement, we put these legacy issues firmly in our past. We will continue focusing on helping the millions of Australians who use Uber get from A to B in a safe, affordable and reliable manner.”
Michael Donelly, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Principal, issued a statement following the major settlement, highlighting the success of the class action.
“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,” Donelly said, per 9News.
”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.”
The class action settlement has yet to be formally approved by the Supreme Court. It is reported to look at an approval application in April, ABC News reports.
According to the publication, Donelly said that Maurice Blackburn’s fees are between $30 million and $35 million, and that the rest of the settlement would be divided amongst the plaintiffs.
It is also reported that the money will not be divided up equally as “some group members suffered greater financial losses than others”.
Image source: Getty Images / Future Publishing
