Uber settles dispute with Australian taxi operators and agrees to pay $178 million compensation for losses incurred by the drivers
Uber has agreed to settle a prolonged dispute with Australian taxi operators. The multinational transportation firm will be hiring car drivers by paying 272 million Australian dollars ($178 million) as compensation for the financial losses incurred by these drivers upon Uber's entry into the Australian market.
The scheduled trial of the class action against Uber has been cancelled by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, as per a report by AP. This decision comes as Uber reached a financial settlement, leading to the withdrawal of the case on behalf of 8,000 taxi and hire car drivers represented by the legal firm.
Michael Donelly, a principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, stated that drivers and vehicle owners had witnessed financial setbacks as a result of Uber's aggressive market entry in 2012. He also said that the company persistently sought to evade providing compensation to them.
On the other hand, Uber's statement called the taxi industry's complaints 'legacy issues' and highlighted that regulations for ridesharing were non-existent globally when the company began over ten years ago.
“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,” the company said.
This development comes at a time when the company had announced its plans to halt its services in Minnesota's city, following a decision by the Minneapolis city council to override a mayoral veto, mandating ride-sharing services to implement a pay increase for their drivers.