London cabbies launch £250m lawsuit against Uber for alleged rule-breaking

Over 10,500 London taxi drivers filed a group lawsuit against Uber on Thursday, accusing it of breaking taxi booking rules and misleading city authorities to obtain a license. They are demanding £250 million in damages.

In the lawsuit, they claim that Uber allowed its drivers to accept bookings directly from clients instead of using a centralized system, as licensed taxis do. This practice, they argue, violates private hire regulations.

The taxi drivers allege that Uber was aware of these rules but intentionally deceived the public transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), about its booking system when it secured a license in 2012. This deception, they claim, unlawfully deprived taxi drivers of income.

The claim is purported to be worth at least £250 million, with each of the 10,500 taxi drivers potentially eligible for up to £25,000 in compensation, according to RGL Management, the firm representing them.

All London taxi drivers who were active full- or part-time from June 2012 to mid-March 2018, including those now retired, are eligible to join the lawsuit.

This lawsuit marks the continuation of a claim initially filed in 2018, which was paused due to the pandemic. Uber has denied the allegations, deeming them baseless.

This case adds to a series of disputes concerning Uber's operations in London. In 2017, TfL declined to renew its license, citing a lack of corporate responsibility with implications for public safety. Two years later, TfL again refused the renewal, yet Uber successfully appealed. The current license is set to expire at the end of September.

In 2021, the Supreme Court affirmed a significant employment tribunal ruling that Uber drivers should be classified as workers, entitled to the minimum wage and paid holidays.