Uber

Uber and Melbourne Airport are facing a claim after a blind passenger and his seeing eye dog were allegedly refused rides.

Almost 7,000 taxi drivers who did not sign up to two class actions against Uber by the deadline are asking the court for a cut of a $272 million settlement, with a judge questioning what she “unleashed” when sending out the notice of settlement. 

Uber has successfully challenged five years of payroll tax totalling more than $81 million, with a judge finding that payments made to drivers should not be taxed as wages as Uber only acts as a “payment collection agent” between rider and driver.

The judge considering a $272 million settlement in class actions against Uber will appoint a pair of contradictors to advise her on the hundreds of objections lobbed against the agreement.

The funder behind two class actions against Uber, which have settled for $272 million, stands to make a tidy sum if the settlement holds up at a court approval hearing.

Uber has hit back at claims that it engaged in corporate espionage by using a software program called SurfCam to lure drivers away from rival GoCatch, saying its actions could not be compared to burglary because the material it obtained was not confidential.

Uber wants to trim a class action by taxi and hire drivers in four states over the introduction of UberX, saying the case lacks coherence.

A judge has imposed a $21 million penalty on Uber for misleading customers through platform-wide cancellation messages and estimated fares on its Uber Taxi option, $5 million short of the “very substantial” sum jointly agreed by the parties.

Uber has lost its challenge to a decision that found many of its email exchanges with lawyers were made in furtherance of offences at the centre of class action claims and were not protected by legal professional privilege.

A judge has slammed a $26 million penalty agreed to by Uber and the ACCC as “not within the range”, saying the impact of the rideshare giant’s misleading conduct appeared to be “trivial”.