Posted on the 30th June 2026 in PHTM News
UBER SLAMS £340M LONDON CABBIE LAWSUIT AS COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED AS HIGH COURT TRIAL BEGINS
Uber has fiercely hit back at a massive £340 million lawsuit brought against it by thousands of London black cab drivers, branding the legal action as “completely unfounded.”
The high-stakes preliminary hearing, which commenced at the High Court on Monday 29 June, marks the first major test for the joint claim brought by a 13,000-strong group of traditional taxi drivers alongside two former private hire operators, Kabbee and Iride.
The claimants allege that Uber obtained and operated under its Transport for London (TfL) licence unlawfully between 2012 and March 2018, stripping licensed cabbies of millions of pounds in earnings.
Responding to the allegations, an Uber spokesperson told City AM: “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.”
Rather than debating the truth behind the allegations, this initial trial focuses purely on a critical legal loophole: whether the lawsuit was filed too late.
Uber argues that because the proceedings were issued in 2024, they fall way past the UK's standard six-year limitation window. In its legal filings, Uber stated that the claimants are “plainly unable to discharge the burden of proof” required to bypass the time limit, concluding that “all the claims in this action are time barred and therefore must be dismissed.”
Uber’s legal team claims that cab drivers had plenty of chances to sue years ago, pointing out that TfL publicly detailed Uber's alleged rule-breaking when it temporarily refused to renew its licence back in 2017.
Uber also alleges that the cabbies have brought forward "a new case" at the last minute, which is "fatally undermined" by documents proving their own lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, were already gathering financial information to plot a class-action lawsuit as early as late 2017 and early 2018.
The core of the drivers' claim is that Uber misrepresented its booking technology to regulators and breached London’s private hire rules.
While the court has been directed to assume these allegations are true for this initial hearing, Uber points out that black cab trade groups have publicly campaigned against them for over a decade.
According to Uber's legal documents, the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association’s position had long been that Uber's "entire operational method in London does not comply with the legislation."
The stakes could not be higher for both sides. If Uber wins this initial battle over the time limit, the entire £340 million case will be thrown out immediately.
However, if the cabbies successfully argue they couldn't have brought the case any sooner, the litigation will move forward to a full trial to decide if Uber acted unlawfully and if London's drivers are owed hundreds of millions in damages.
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