Taxi companies may be satisfied now and heading off to the nearest store to buy a bottle of champagne: a Québec Superior Court judge has allowed local taxi companies and drivers to launch a class-action lawsuit against the ride-sharing company Uber (via CBC News).
Marc-Antoine Cloutier, the lawyer representing the Québec-based taxi companies and drivers, said they are seeking to reclaim hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue due to Uber’s launch in Québec in 2014. The lawsuit covers all taxi and limousine companies and drivers working in Montreal, its south and north shore, and in the Québec City area.
“This is the first big victory for the taxi industry against Uber,” Cloutier told CBC’s French language station, Radio-Canada.
“We’re talking about 15,000 to 20,000 taxi drivers and fairly important numbers — a loss of value for their taxi permits, loss of revenue.”
The Superior Court’s ruling comes just four months after the Québec government signed a one year-pilot project with the ride-sharing service, sparking the ire of taxi companies, who called the pilot project “a betrayal and a humiliation.”
On the other hand, Premier Philippe Couillard responded to the taxi industry by saying that the pilot project didn’t post any threat to them.
Uber Canada, however, is currently focusing on delivering a quality service to Québecers, but it is aware of the threat the class-action lawsuit represents, but declined to comment further while speaking with CBC News.
