Posted on the 20th October 2026 in PHTM News

UBER TRIUMPHS IN £340M HIGH COURT BATTLE AGAINST LONDON BLACK CAB DRIVERS

Uber has secured a major legal victory after the High Court dismissed two linked lawsuits worth £340 million brought by around 13,000 London black cab drivers and two defunct private hire operators, Kabbee and Iride.

The claimants sued the ride-hailing app in 2024 - following delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic - alleging that Uber gave "misleading and inaccurate information" to Transport for London (TfL) to obtain its operating licence in 2012, costing rival drivers millions in lost earnings.

Claimants represented by RGL Management were seeking nearly £200 million for black cab drivers, with individual payouts estimated at up to £25,000 each for loss of earnings, alongside a £140 million claim on behalf of Kabbee and Iride.

However, on Monday, October, Mr Justice Birt threw out the cases entirely on limitation grounds without considering whether the allegations were true.

Ruling that the lawsuits fell outside the standard six-year legal time limit, the judge stated that the claimants could have reasonably discovered the alleged deception before 2018.

Uber’s legal team had argued that drivers had sufficient information to investigate years earlier, citing TfL’s 2017 decision to temporarily refuse Uber's licence renewal and evidence that lawyers had already begun exploring class-action proceedings in late 2017.

Following the ruling, RGL Management stated: "We are obviously very disappointed and are considering all options available to the claimant cab drivers with the legal team."

An Uber spokesperson welcomed the judgment, saying: "Uber is proud to work with thousands of private hire and black cab drivers to serve millions of passengers across London.

"We are pleased that the court has dismissed all of these claims entirely at the earliest opportunity and the ruling today has put these legacy matters firmly in the past."

The decision removes a massive potential liability for Uber at a time when the company is expanding its operations into autonomous vehicles across the UK.

Uber launched a limited pilot with British startup Wayve in London in September and recently announced plans for self-driving taxi trials in Manchester in partnership with technology firms Verne and Pony.ai. Nevertheless, these technological developments continue to face pushback from trade unions and London Assembly members over job security, safety, and local oversight.


Read another story