Uber pays Aussie taxi drivers $272m in class action settlement
US technology giant Uber Technologies has settled in a class action lawsuit brought by a law firm on behalf of Australian taxi drivers, agreeing to pay $272 million. It is the fifth-largest class action settlement in Australian legal history.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and former taxi driver Nick Andrianakis, who was the main plaintiff in the action, attended the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday morning to close out a case that began in 2019.
The class action grew to incorporate more than 8000 taxi and chartered drivers. They said Uber had harmed them financially by setting up and running its UberX services in Australia illegally.
The case was due to run until May 17. But a deal has been struck, and was detailed on Monday morning.
In a statement, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Principal Michael Donelly said the historic settlement followed a gruelling five-year legal battle.
“Uber fought tooth and nail at every point along the way, every day, for the five years this has been on foot, trying at every turn to deny our group members any form of remedy or compensation for their losses,” he said.
“But on the courtroom steps and after years of refusing to do the right thing by those we say they harmed, Uber has blinked, and thousands of everyday Australians joined together to stare down a global giant.”
Uber ‘like pirates’
The case against Uber was for lost income for drivers and loss in the value of licences bought by the owners of taxis, hire cars, limousines and charter vehicles, when Uber launched with cheaper and more convenient services, despite being unlicensed.
Uber first launched in Australia in Sydney in 2012, operating outside the law, and often facing furious protests from the taxi industry. The ACT was the first Australian jurisdiction to allow ride-sharing services such as UberX to operate legally in 2015. NSW followed soon after, before the rest of the country.
When Uber was legalised in NSW in December 2015, the state government added a $1 levy for every trip for up to five years to compensate taxi licence owners.
Mum and dad investors in taxi licences were told they would receive an up-front compensation of $20,000 for up to two licences. Taxi licence owners who had bought the licence in 2015 would receive the maximum compensation of $175,000 from the government.
There was no compensation for licence owners who bought the licence before 2006.
Quoted by ABC news in 2019, Mr Andrianakis said he was forced out of business by Uber’s popularity.
“My family has always been into taxis, my father drove taxis … my son drove taxis while he was at uni,” he said. “But when Uber came to our shores illegally, like pirates, they broke every law, every regulation.”
Mr Donelly said the settlement was in the top five class actions in Australian legal history, and “put beyond doubt” that Uber had been held to account for its actions.
“We are extremely proud that thousands of people put their faith in us and Nick Andrianakis and allowed us to do what we do best – holding to account major organisations that we say inflicted mass wrongs on people,” he said.
“A $271.8 million sum will finally put real money back into the accounts of people who have been devastated.”
In a statement, an Uber spokesman sought to highlight that the ridesharing service was now regulated in every state and territory across Australia, and that governments recognised it as an important part of the nation’s transport mix.
“Since 2018, Uber has made significant contributions into various state-level taxi compensation schemes, and with today’s proposed settlement, we put these legacy issues firmly in our past,” the spokesman said.
“We will continue focusing on helping the millions of Australians who use Uber get from A to B in a safe, affordable and reliable manner.”
Queensland taxi, rideshare drivers issued hundreds of fines for incorrect parking, signage
17 January 2023
More than 600 fines have been given to Queensland taxi and rideshare drivers found to be operating in violation of industry guidelines.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey told ABC Radio Brisbane Mornings host Rebecca Levingston the enforcement blitz started in December and focused heavily around rides ordered and taken in Brisbane and the Gold Coast on and about December 31.
Authorities intercepted 2,056 taxis, limousines and booked hire vehicles.
Fines were issued for 31 different offences from December 2 to January 15, of varying amounts starting at $575, and included:
- Failure to display a compliant booked hire sign — 179 fines
- Unauthorised vehicle stopping in a bus zone — 130 fines
- Stop in taxi zone while providing a booked hire service — 57 fines
- Driver failure to carry their driver authorisation – 57 fines
- Stop contrary to continuous yellow edge line – 67 fines
Other serious offences for which penalties were issued included driving an unregistered or defective vehicle, driving a vehicle with an unapproved security camera system, failure to ensure a security camera system is fitted and operational, or failing to display a security camera system sign.
“The majority of drivers do the right thing … but there were a number of drivers doing the wrong thing — not taking short fares, overcharging, not running meters,” Mr Bailey said.
“If you’ve had a few drinks and want to go home at 2am … you need to have confidence that cab is going to look after you and stick to the rules.
“We were very concerned over the Christmas period that this was happening.”
Mr Bailey said transport inspectors had worked 24/7 shifts, “sometimes covertly, sometimes uniformed”, and recorded 613 offences since the start of December totalling about $146,000.
Taxi drivers accounted for 80 fines while 524 fines were issued to rideshare drivers. Limousines and privately registered vehicles made up the remainder.
He said the department “particularly targeted New Year’s Eve because we knew that would be an issue”, intercepting 475 vehicles and issuing 104 fines in that time period as a result.
“We’ve had a lot less fines for over quoting and overcharging since the operation started in November, which is pleasing to see,” Mr Bailey said.
“But my message is that drivers breaking the rules, committing traffic offences or failing to carry their driver authorisation will be caught.
“There is no place for these dodgy practices and drivers need to obey the rules.
“We will continue our compliance operations, but we also ask the public to report any taxi or rideshare driver doing the wrong thing to help stamp out illegal behaviours.”
The Gold Coast area was a focus on January 14, with increased visitors for the Magic Millions race day.
Mr Bailey called on companies in the taxi and rideshare industry to improve self-regulation.
“It shouldn’t take fines for companies and drivers to step up and follow the rules that are in place,” he said.
“If this non-compliance continues, we will not hesitate to hand out fines of up to $5,750.”
Queensland’s Taxi Industry Council previously said it was aware of rogue cab drivers refusing to switch the meter on and instead insisting on cash-only and inflated fares during peak times at hospitality venues, major events and at the airport.
Australian Taxi Industry Association boss Blair Davies said the organisation had been encouraging the government to crack down on bad behaviour.
“Professional drivers have worked out the transport department is serious about catching this behaviour, and the number of incidents have significantly dropped off,” he said.
“I don’t know if they’ve been eliminated but they’ve dropped.
“Now, there are many more fines going to rideshare drivers for things like stopping in taxi zones and not having appropriate signage on their cars.
“We’re encouraged by that but we’d like to see a little bit more enforcement of touting.”
Touting describes drivers and customers doing cash deals outside of the safety of rideshare apps or taxi booking services and meters.
“In a nutshell, we’re supportive of the minister’s actions and appreciate his intervention, because at the end of the day, these small number of rogue taxi drivers are giving the industry a bad name,” Mr Davies said.
Repeated offences could result in much larger fines or being given fewer jobs by booking services.
Mr Davies said ultimately the transport department could cancel drivers’ booked hire taxi authorities, which were a form of license to operate such a business.
An Uber spokesperson said drivers who broke its guidelines could be banned.
Mr Bailey responded to reports in early November, of taxi and rideshare drivers demanding inflated cash fares without metres or apps at peak times by promising to stamp out the illegal practices.
TCQ wants your input on taxi licensing reform
The Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ) is planning to hold another round of town hall meetings across the State over the next few months to update members on developments and hear from them directly about what they would consider reasonable and acceptable in regard to taxi licensing reforms and compensation. The meetings will be similar in format to those held previously. TCQ wants to hear from all members of the industry so that we can use our seat at the negotiation table for maximum advantage. So, if you have a stake in the industry and want to have a say in where it is heading, TCQ is welcoming you to get involved.
REGISTER INTEREST HERE
With 13cabs data showing female taxi drivers are in high demand, could women help to fill the cabbie shortage?
26 April 2022
Over the Easter long weekend the wait time for a taxi from Townsville airport was more than an hour.
There are 132 licensed cabbies in the city of 200,000 and Townsville Taxis director Darren Morse says that is about 80 drivers too few.
“The hardest part we’re now facing is … finding available drivers to put into those cars,” he said.
“And that’s drivers for day shift, drivers for night shift, and drivers who can just fill in those shifts when [they] need time off.”
Mr Morse said the business had tried to boost numbers through newspaper and radio advertising and by targeting university students and retirees looking for flexible work.
But the calls have gone unanswered and with the peak tourism period weeks away, Mr Morse says wait times will only increase.
But some think the answer to the driver shortage could be women.
Queensland’s largest taxi company, 13cabs, estimates only 11 per cent of drivers are women.
Data from the company’s app shows female drivers are increasingly preferred.
Townsville driver Colleen Babao says she has found herself answering the same question time and again from passengers.
“They feel very strongly there are safety concerns [for me] — I’m asked about this constantly,” Ms Babao said.
“People really have the idea that if you are driving a taxi you are at a great risk.”
With more than 20 years’ experience operating across the region, Ms Babao said she believed there was a misconception when it came to women’s safety.
She said the fear of being attacked or harassed could deter women from entering the profession.
“I think that’s at the heart of it,” Ms Babao said.
“They [passengers] express this very deep concern of ‘you be careful’, because they think it’s something that happens all the time.
“I just think the word need to be put out there — we can debunk the myth, so to speak, change those misperceptions.”
Taxi Council Queensland chief executive Blair Davies said those concerns had to be addressed to get more women into the industry.
“We need to get out there and promote driving a cab as a good, safe profession to segments of the community who maybe haven’t thought about it before,” he said.
Mr Davies said since the introduction of security cameras in Queensland taxis in the mid-2000s, there had been a reduction in the number of attacks on drivers, but technology could not eliminate the risks entirely.
“Some of the new drugs out there, things like ice, affect people’s thinking such that they don’t worry about being hurt or the consequence of their actions,” he said.
“They remain a concern.”
Ms Babao said drivers could find themselves in the “wrong place at the wrong time”, but wanted to reassure women that the job should not come with an expectation of compromised safety.
“I wouldn’t be working at night if I didn’t feel safe, but something I do is lock the doors if you’re in certain areas, particularly in the city,” she said.
“Good advice, I would say, is to trust your gut instincts — that’s the best advice I could give someone.”
Townsville’s only Shebah driver, Felicity Finau says she cannot keep up with the demand for her services.
“I have to turn down work because I cannot possibly put it in,” she said.
“It’s very hard at times, but I do what I can do.”
Founded in 2017, the all-female rideshare service caters to women and unaccompanied minors.
In the 12 months driving for Shebah, Ms Finau said she had seen demand for more female drivers in the region increase.
She said the flexible working hours made driving an attractive career choice.
“Especially if you’re a young mum that wants to get back into the workforce,” she said.
“This is something that can get you back out there and enjoy — you may not want to go back to your old job.
“There’s work out there for anyone who wants it.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-26/townsville-taxi-driver-shortage-female-cabbies/101008442
Queenslanders with disabilities left in limbo as wheelchair-accessible taxis fail to turn up to bookings
26 April 2022
Mark McGrath has had to cancel countless appointments, social gatherings and almost missed his father’s funeral due to taxi delays.
The Gold Coast resident relies on wheelchair-accessible taxis every week but said he would do anything to avoid it.
“You never know whether they turn up in 20 minutes or an hour and a half,” Mr McGrath said.
“I will even take my power [wheelchair] and drive for two and a quarter hours, just to avoid that same cab trip.”
Even when he pre-booked a taxi to attend his father’s funeral, Mr McGrath almost missed it.
“I rang the day before, and I booked the cab to pick me up at 1pm and the ceremony was at 2pm, and it was only about 15 minutes away.
Mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras – get the facts
Portable and fixed cameras to detect illegal mobile phone use, and failure to wear a seatbelt are operating across Queensland. The cameras operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in urban and regional areas. You can be caught anywhere, anytime.
The cameras were introduced to address the dangerous behaviours of mobile phone distraction and travelling unrestrained in a vehicle.
Research shows mobile phone distraction quadruples the risk of crashing and is just as dangerous as drink driving. If you take your eyes off the road for just two seconds, in a vehicle moving at 60km/h, you will travel more than 33 metres while distracted.
A properly worn seatbelt is proven to reduce the risk of serious injury by 50 per cent and death by 45 per cent. A crash without one, at just 40km/h, has the same impact on your body as falling from a two-storey building.
The technology
The cameras use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect front seat occupants committing mobile phone and seatbelt offences and have been introduced following a successful six-month trial of the technology in 2020.
The cameras, both fixed and portable, take multiple images of every vehicle that passes, including the registration number plate, and images of the front seats of the vehicle.
If a possible offence is suspected, the image is put through a rigorous adjudication process by an authorised officer, who determines if a penalty should be issued. If no possible offence is detected by the AI, those images are automatically excluded and deleted.
The penalties
From 1 November 2021, the following camera related penalties will apply. Roadside enforcement by police continues as normal.
- $1,033 and four demerit points for illegal mobile phone use while driving.
- $413 and three demerit points for failing to wear a seatbelt. Drivers can also be fined a further $413 and three demerit points for each passenger not properly restrained.
- Double demerit points apply for repeat mobile phone and seatbelt offences committed within a 12-month period. This means anyone persisting in these dangerous behaviours can lose their licence.
The cameras can detect mobile phone and seatbelt offences at the same time, and penalties will apply for each detected offence. Learner drivers will lose their licence after just one mobile phone offence. P-Platers can also lose their licence after just one mobile phone offence.
Mobile phone rules
It is illegal to hold your phone in your hand or have it resting on any part of your body, including your lap, while driving. This applies even when you’re stopped in traffic or at traffic lights. The phone doesn’t need to be turned on or in use for it to be an offence.
However, a phone may be used hands-free, for example, mounted in a cradle for open licensed drivers. These mobile phone rules do not apply to Mobile Display Terminals (MDTs) in a taxi. However, the position of the phone or MDTs must not obscure your view of the road, you must have proper control of your vehicle, and drive with due care and attention at all times.
All drivers can hold a phone when safely stopped to:
- pay for goods and services, for example at a drive through;
- gain access to or from a road-related area, such as a car park;
- present a digital driver licence or other document to police when asked; or
- get a card or money out of a phone wallet for the above purposes.
You can also use your phone when safely parked. Parked means stopped with the intention of staying at that place.
Seatbelt rules
Taxi drivers are required to wear a seatbelt at all times – not just when transporting a passenger in the vehicle. If the driver of a taxi does not have a seatbelt exemption certificate lodged with TMR and is detected by a camera not wearing a seatbelt, and infringement notice may be issued. This will be sent to the registered operator of the vehicle. If the registered operator was not the driver at the time, they will need to identify the driver and follow standard arrangements to transfer the fine to that person.
Adults and children 7 years or older must wear a correctly fitted seatbelt, and children up to the age of 7 must wear a correctly fitted Australian Standard approved child restraint. Children less than 1 year old can be held on the lap of someone 16 years or older.
Taxi drivers are exempt from the requirement to ensure their passengers are wearing a seatbelt if:
- your passenger is over 16
- your passenger is under 7 and you do not have an Australian Standard approved child restraint in the vehicle.
At present, because it is not possible to determine the age of a person in the images captured by the cameras, infringement notices will not be issued if a passenger of a taxi is detected by a camera not wearing a seatbelt. It should be noted that these offences are still subject to roadside policing.
Making Queensland roads safe for all
The mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras are part of the Camera Detected Offence Program. Money collected from camera fines is used to fund important road safety initiatives and education across Queensland.
Labels required for Electric and Hydrogen Vehicles
30 September 2021
Electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles can cause hazards for emergency service workers in certain rescue situations. The Queensland government has introduced the requirement for these vehicles to be labelled.
When do I need my label?
If an electric, hybrid or hydrogen-powered vehicle was built after 1 January 2019, or an existing vehicle was modified to be these types after 1 January 2019, the registered owner must display specific labels on the vehicles front and rear number plates.
Enforcement of this requirement will begin in October 2021, however until 1 January 2022, this will be as an educational approach. Throughout this period no fines or penalties will be given, this will allow time for drivers to attach their labels.
Fastening your label to your number plate
The Department of Transport and Main Roads has not mandated any specific way of fitting the labels to number plates, as long as the labels are securely fitted. Suggested methods include screws, pop rivets or adhesive / double-sided tape.
Electric vehicle requirements (including Hybrid)
An electric powered vehicle means a vehicle powered by one or more electric motors or traction motors that are the only propulsion system for the vehicle or are used in conjunction with another propulsion system for the vehicle.
Electric vehicle labels must:
- be affixed to a plate made of metal that is at least 1mm thick
- be an equilateral triangular shape where each side has width of 30mm in length and each interior angle of which is 60º
- have a blue surface that complies with class 2 of Australian Standard 1906.1 Retroreflective Materials and Devices for Road Traffic Control Purposes—Retroreflective Sheeting
- be marked ‘EV’ in white capital letters that are at least 8mm high and have the orientation shown in the example
- be fixed to the number plates so that the letters on the label are in an upright position
- not wholly or partly obscure any characters on the number plates
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Example of label for electric powered vehicle. Note: The example of the label is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent the label’s actual size, dimension or colour. |
Hydrogen vehicle label requirements
A hydrogen powered vehicle means a vehicle that is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell system and has one or more hydrogen fuel containers fitted to the vehicle for the system.
Hydrogen vehicle labels must:
- be affixed to a plate made of metal that is at least 1mm thick
- be a regular pentagonal shape where each side is 20mm in length and each interior angle of which is 108º
- must have a yellow surface that complies with class 2 of Australian Standard 1906.1 Retroreflective Materials and Devices for Road Traffic Control Purposes—Retroreflective Sheeting
- must be marked ‘H’ in a black capital letter that is at least 10mm high and have the orientation shown in the example
- must be fixed to the number plates so that the letter on the label is in an upright position
- must not wholly or partly obscure any characters on the number plates
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Example of label for hydrogen powered vehicle. Note: The example of the label is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent the label’s actual size, dimension or colour. |
Where to get vehicle labels
- MTA Queensland (MTAQ) have labels available through the MTAQ website.
- Auto Tattoo Grafix have labels available through their online store.
For new electric, hybrid or hydrogen vehicles, label requirements should be discussed with the vehicle dealer.
https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/registration/labelling-requirements-for-electric-vehicles-and-hydrogen-vehicles
Taxi customers don’t have to use check-in code when in taxi
10 August 2021
A dangerous oversight that means taxi customers don’t have to check-in using a QR code has resulted in a taxi driver being infectious in the community for 10 days because he was not identified as a close contact of an infected pilot.
Authorities revealed yesterday that the cab driver caught the virus from a passenger – a Cairns marine pilot who tested positive to the virus early last week.
It is not clear why the taxi driver was not identified as a close contact during contact tracing efforts with Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young saying it is not always possible to catch everyone.
Despite calls from the Taxi Council of Queensland for the use of QR codes to be mandated in cabs like has been done in other states the government is yet to act.
While Health Minister Yvette D’Ath stopped short of saying she would implement the change she said the government was always looking at ways to strengthen its contact tracing system to keep Queenslanders safe.
However, The Courier-Mail understands work is underway to expand the app to taxis and ride shares.
Griffith University virologist Professor Nigel McMillan said it was a no-brainer to introduce QR codes into cabs.
Taxi Council of Queensland chief executive Blair Davies said that it would be standard procedure for Cairns Taxis to hand over GPS tracking information for the routes taken by the taxi as well as details of fares through either phone or app bookings or receipts from electronic payment.
“We would be pretty confident that the information from the booking company should make the contract tracers’ job a lot easier because Cairns Taxis tend to do a high proportion of booked jobs and are less likely to be hailed on the street,” Mr Davies told The Courier-Mail.
Mr Davies said Queensland was one of the few states left in Australia which had not brought in QR codes in taxis, something the Queensland taxi industry called for last week.
Mr Davies said the call was made last week in order to support the fight to control Covid-19 and to make the taxi industry’s contribution to keeping the state moving.
QR codes have been compulsory in Victorian taxis since late June and in NSW, SA and the ACT since July.
Mr Davies said Cairns Taxis had been proactive with their sanitisation program.
He said taxi drivers were hard hit by lockdowns and he had been lobbying government to recognise them as a priority for vaccination.
“We estimate a significant number of our cabbies are already vaccinated but you want as many as you possibly can to get the jab,” Mr Davies said.
“Wheelchair taxi drivers for example come in close contact with people from an at-risk community,” Mr Davies said.
“We want to keep our drivers safe as well as those segments of our customer base who are vulnerable,” he said.
Big Win for Queensland Cabbies on CTP
Media release
August 3, 2021
The Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ) has welcomed the decision by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) to fix anomalies in Queensland’s Compulsory Third Party (CTP) scheme that have seen taxi operators paying up to $4,000 more per vehicle than their counterparts in the rest of the personalised transport sector.
Under reforms announced by MAIC:
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- from 1 October 2021, the “base insurer premium” that forms the substantive part of the total CTP insurance premium will be equalised for taxi sedans and wagons (Class 3), rental cars (Class 4), and booked hire vehicles (Class 26); and
- from 1 July 2022, all other components of the total CTP insurance premium will be equalised for taxis, rentals and booked hire vehicles.
Currently, an ordinary Queensland cabbie (Class 3) pays 230% more each year in CTP than a full-time rideshare driver driving their own vehicle (Class 26) and that rideshare driver pay 45% more each year in CTP than someone renting a vehicle to provide a rideshare service (Class 4). MAIC’s reforms will mean everyone using a car to transport passengers in the personalised transport sector will pay the same CTP premium from 1 July 2022.
TCQ campaigned long and loud for anomalies in the CTP scheme to be fixed and so the industry peak body welcomes that they are finally going to be fixed.
“We have seen taxi businesses, many of which are small family-owned businesses, driven into financial difficulty and even bankruptcy, by excessive costs that their competitors escape through loopholes or special exemptions. Class 3 CTP premiums are not the only example of egregious costs being born by mum and dad taxi operators, but they are the biggest one and the one that most needed fixing,” says TCQ CEO, Blair Davies.
“We hear a lot from Governments around the country saying they want to get their economies growing again and acknowledging they need to support local businesses, especially small businesses, to make that happen. This decision by MAIC to equalise CTP premiums within the personalised transport sector shows the Queensland Government is moving past the rhetoric and taking real action. It’s going to be a great result for Queensland cabbies from 1 July 2022, and the changes from 1 October 2021 will be an important step on the journey,” Mr Davies continues.
Within the personalised transport sector, taxis are usually categorised as the essential service. During times of natural disaster or crisis, such as cyclones, floods and bushfires, taxis are typically the last vehicles on the road before conditions become unsafe and some of the first vehicles back on the road helping with the recovery. Mr Davies says this commitment to support and service their local communities has again been on show over the past eighteen months of the COVID-19 pandemic, even when travel and gathering restrictions made it difficult and uneconomic for taxis to be operating Queensland cabbies have been out on the road every day.
“Queensland taxis remained on the road throughout the pandemic because that’s who we are and what we do. Cabbies are members of their communities and committed to providing them with essential travel services when they need them. Being local small businesses is really what makes us different to rideshare companies and, quite frankly, we’re proud about being local and different,” says Mr Davies.
“The Queensland CTP scheme has been unfairly disadvantaging local small business taxi operators for years and the decision by MAIC is going to bring that to an end. It’s a victory for common sense, fairness, and TCQ persistence in standing up for Queensland cabbies” says Mr Davies
ENDS