Taxi drivers in Australia can cheer after Uber agreed to settle a class action lawsuit filed by a group of taxi drivers out of court. The suit was filed in 2019 but a few weeks before the case went to trial Uber agreed to pay AUD 272 million (~RM843 million) in compensation to the affected taxi drivers.
Uber started their operations in Australia in 2014. From the beginning it received protests from taxi drivers who said that Uber's operations were unlicensed and used uncertified drivers. As a result, taxi drivers who have to spend a lot to operate suffer huge losses.
This almost RM 1 billion in compensation money will be distributed to more than 8000 taxi drivers involved in the class action lawsuit filed. Uber's fortunes are not what they were a decade ago with their operations shrinking due to mounting losses. Initiatives to develop robot taxis stalled as did flying taxis. In some markets their business was taken over by competitors such as Grab.