Uber escapes compensation of R$2.3 billion requested by London taxi drivers

Uber managed, this Monday (19), to overturn two lawsuits that requested around £340 million (R$2.3 billion) in compensation.

The lawsuits were filed by thousands of traditional London taxi drivers and two former private transport companies.

The company was sued in 2024 for alleged irregularities in obtaining a license to operate private transport services in the British capital.

The plaintiffs alleged that Uber provided "misleading and inaccurate" information to Transport for London, responsible for the city's transport system.

The lawsuits, presented to the High Court of London, requested almost £200 million (R$1.35 billion) in compensation for around 13,000 traditional taxi drivers.

Another action, filed on behalf of the companies Kabbie and Iride, which closed their activities, claimed around £140 million (around R$945 million).

Uber denied the accusations and argued that the lawsuits were filed after the legal deadline of six years for this type of action, which would justify their rejection.

In a written ruling, Judge Simon Birt said the plaintiffs could have discovered the alleged fraud before 2018, six years before the lawsuits were filed.

Therefore, it rejected the actions based on the legal deadline, without analyzing the merits of the accusations.

"We are pleased that the court dismissed all of these claims in their entirety at the earliest possible opportunity, and that today's ruling has definitively put these long-standing issues in the past," an Uber spokesperson said.

The proceedings focused on information provided by Uber to Transport for London when the company obtained its first license to operate private transport services in 2012.

Since then, the company has gained a significant portion of customers from London's traditional black taxis, known as black cabs.

"We are obviously very disappointed and, together with the legal team, are evaluating all options available to the taxi drivers bringing the action," said a spokesperson for RGL Management, the company that managed the cases on behalf of the plaintiffs.

This Monday's decision precedes an even larger lawsuit involving Uber in London, scheduled for next week.

At the time, the company will face the British tax authority in a tax dispute worth more than £1 billion (R$6.75 billion).