Uber legacy: Class-action lawsuit by taxi drivers against Quebec begins
BNN Bloomberg
A trial opens Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit accusing the Quebec government of wiping out hundreds of millions of dollars in the value of taxi permits by allowing ride-hailing company Uber to operate and then by abolishing the permit system.
The government's negligence led to the disguised expropriation of taxi licences — without proper compensation — in areas where Uber was offering its services, says the lawsuit by former permit holders.
Quebec allowed Uber to violate the laws and regulations governing the taxi industry when the company started operating in the province in 2013, "which led to a drop in demand for taxi owners' permits and an inevitable decline in their value," according to the statement of claim.
The lawsuit also alleges that the province's actions — including the creation of a pilot project in 2016 that legalized Uber's operations in Quebec — contributed to the further decline in the value of taxi owners' permits before they were eliminated as part of a 2019 taxi industry reform.
