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Uber is dealing with a multimillion-pound lawsuit from London’s black-cab drivers, reviving a long-simmering battle between the US ride-hailing app and the UK capital’s taxi commerce.
The motion, which will probably be filed in London’s High Court on Thursday on behalf of greater than 10,500 cab drivers, alleges that Uber improperly obtained a licence from Transport for London in 2012.
The licence meant the San Francisco-based firm unlawfully took enterprise away from different drivers, in line with RGL Management, a litigation claims administration firm representing the drivers.
The worth of the declare is estimated at a minimal of £250mn, with particular person drivers doubtlessly eligible for compensation of as a lot as £25,000, in line with RGL.
“Uber seems to believe it is above the law and cabbies across London have suffered loss of earnings because of it,” Garry White, who has pushed a black cab for 36 years, stated in a press release. “It is time they were held to account.”
The lawsuit, which spans May 2012 to March 2018, revives a declare the cab drivers first tried to carry in opposition to Uber in 2018 alleging the corporate misled TfL about how its working system labored. After spending greater than a 12 months increase consciousness of the swimsuit among the many drivers, the pandemic and ensuing lack of commerce to taxi drivers meant the motion was briefly deserted.
“These old claims are completely unfounded,” Uber stated. “Uber operates lawfully in London, is fully licensed by TfL, and is proud to serve millions of passengers and drivers across the capital.”
The new declare comes regardless of efforts by Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief government since 2017, to rebuild relations with licensed cab drivers, after the corporate’s co-founder Travis Kalanick described the business as “an asshole named taxi”.
Uber has had a fraught relationship with London for a lot of years. In 2017, TfL refused to resume the taxi operator’s licence after concluding it was not a “fit and proper” operator. Khosrowshahi wrote an open letter on the time apologising for previous errors and pledging to battle the choice.
Uber was once more denied a renewal in 2019, which it efficiently appealed. TfL granted the corporate a 30-month licence in 2022, with the allow up for renewal by the top of September this 12 months.
The firm was pressured to categorise its UK drivers as employees in 2021, entitling them to vacation pay and pensions, after shedding a high-court problem led by a bunch of Uber drivers. The case marked a basic shift in its enterprise mannequin.
Licensed taxis have helped Uber fight driver shortages because the pandemic and supply ride-hailing companies the place its conventional “gig worker” mannequin is banned, making cabs a well-known sight on its app from New York to Barcelona.
Hundreds of black-cab drivers have signed as much as drive for Uber since November, when it launched its newest effort so as to add conventional London taxis to its transport app.
The service went dwell for a restricted variety of Uber prospects in April, regardless of continued opposition to the scheme from the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, which represents about two-thirds of London’s 15,000 black-cab drivers.
Law agency Mishcon de Reya is performing on behalf of the claimants, with Katch Investment Group funding the motion.