{"id":137397,"date":"2015-07-25T06:30:20","date_gmt":"2015-07-25T06:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=137397"},"modified":"2015-07-24T19:16:22","modified_gmt":"2015-07-24T19:16:22","slug":"uber-sued-for-198m-by-canadian-taxi-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/07\/uber-sued-for-198m-by-canadian-taxi-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Uber sued for \u00a3198m by Canadian taxi drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"
Uber is facing a multimillion-dollar joint legal action by taxi drivers in Canada’s biggest city Toronto.<\/p>\n
The drivers are seeking C$400m ($307m; \u00a3198m) in damages and an injunction to stop the taxi-booking app from operating in the province of Ontario.<\/p>\n
The action alleges that services like Uber X and Uber XL have created an “enormous marketplace” for illegal transportation in the city.<\/p>\n
Those services use contract drivers who are not licensed taxi operators.<\/p>\n
The legal action was filed by law firm Sutts, Strosberg LLP and named cab driver Dominic Konjevic as the plaintiff.<\/p>\n
The firm said the case represents all taxi drivers and companies in the province and if a judge agrees to hear the case, drivers and companies can choose not to be involved.<\/p>\n
Legal battles
\nThe move comes after a provincial court had rejected the city’s bid to stop Uber’s services in Toronto earlier this month, citing there was no evidence it operated as a taxi broker.<\/p>\n
Uber has responded by saying the “protectionist” lawsuit is without merit.<\/p>\n
“As we saw from a recent court ruling in Ontario, Uber is operating legally and is a business model distinct from traditional taxi services,” a spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Uber’s app allows passengers to request rides from drivers in the area and its fares are generally lower than those of traditional taxis. It also offers ride-sharing options.<\/p>\n
The San Francisco-based firm has been embroiled in legal battles around the world over its operations.
\nLast week, it was fined $7.3m (\u00a34.6m) in California for withholding information from regulators on incidents such as accidents.<\/p>\n
But, this has not stopped the company from moving aggressively ahead with expansion plans.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit was filed on the same day as Uber Canada expanded into four more Ontario cities, offering free rides to customers.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Uber is facing a multimillion-dollar joint legal action by taxi drivers in Canada’s biggest city Toronto. The drivers are seeking C$400m ($307m; \u00a3198m) in damages and an injunction to stop the taxi-booking app from operating in the province of Ontario. The action alleges that services like Uber X and Uber XL have created an “enormous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":137398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[18],"yoast_head":"\n