Black cab drivers claim Uber illegally obtained London licence in lawsuit

Black cabs

Thousands of London taxi drivers have launched a £250m lawsuit against Uber, claiming the minicab app illegally obtained a licence to operate in London.

More than 10,000 cabbies have signed up to the lawsuit, which lawyers claim could result in compensation of £25,000 per driver.

The High Court claim comes just weeks after Uber sought to bury a long-running battle with black cab drivers by allowing them to accept rides through its app.

The legal action is being brought by claims company RGL Management and lawyers at Mishcon de Reya. They said they had signed up close to 11,000 taxi drivers – more than half of the roughly 18,000 registered in the capital.

The claim alleges that Uber entities carried out an illegal conspiracy to improperly obtain a private hire operator licence from Transport for London, misleading the transport authority about its business model.

It alleges that while Uber told the regulator that the company handled all bookings, its operating model in fact devolved responsibility to individual drivers, in contravention of laws governing the industry.

The claimants say that Uber unlawfully gained market share to take business away from black cab drivers, leading them to miss out on earnings or have to work extra hours to cover the shortfall.

An Uber spokesman said: “These old claims are completely unfounded. Uber operates lawfully in London, is fully licensed by TfL, and is proud to serve millions of passengers and drivers across the capital.”

Steve McNamara, the head of the Licensed Taxi Driver’s Association, claimed Uber had “engaged in all manner of illegal, underhanded tactics and jeopardised passenger safety, all whilst doing their level best to put hard working London licensed taxi drivers out of business”.

The lawsuit covers activity between 2012 and 2018. Uber has made multiple changes to its business model in London in recent years after a series of legal disputes. RGL is understood to have considered a lawsuit several years ago before stopping work on it.

Uber and London taxis have had a long-running dispute over the app, which shook up the capital’s transport market when it launched in 2012.

The company has sought to build bridges and recently began allowing taxi drivers to sign up to Uber, although several trade associations have rejected the move and it is unclear how many have embraced the app.

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