Uber ordered to pay nearly 850,000 euros to taxis for unfair competition

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credits: MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP 16:11 p.m., October 04, 2023

The Paris Court of Appeal on Wednesday sentenced Uber France to compensate 149 taxi drivers to nearly 850,000 euros in total, in the face of acts of "unfair competition" related to the activity of its former UberPop offer. The UberPop offer, which the American company had developed in France between February 2014 and July 2015, made it possible to connect customers with individuals at the wheel of their personal vehicle. The latter could thus exercise "a remunerated activity of supplement" without having to "respect the regulations then in force of the particular transport of persons for consideration", recalled the Court of Appeal in a press release.

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€1,500 in damages to 149 plaintiffs

"The Court held that the UberPop offer, through the Uber mobile application (...), characterizes acts of unfair competition with regard to taxi drivers who themselves comply with the regulations for the same activity," the statement said. The "commercial disturbance caused by the illicit service UberPop resulted in a breach of equality between competitors (...) allowing the Uber group (...) to build its economic development model from an illicit competitive advantage by freeing itself from regulation," the Court of Appeal said.

In its judgment that AFP was able to consult, the court thus condemned Uber France to pay each of the 149 plaintiffs 1,500 euros in damages for their moral prejudice, against 500 euros in first instance in November 2021. While they had obtained nothing at first instance, the 149 taxis will also be compensated on a case-by-case basis for their economic damage, for amounts ranging from about 1,400 euros to more than 16,000 euros. "This is the first time that the damage of taxis is fully repaired in a case", the justice usually content to compensate only the moral prejudice, welcomed to AFP the lawyer of the plaintiffs Jonathan Bellaiche, quantifying the total amount of compensation at "almost 850,000 euros".

"It means that when we go to the end of the procedures, we get justice," he added, "against a giant like Uber, we must not let go." The lawyer believes that the platform has put in place many judicial strategies "for people to give up", dragging out a procedure started in 2017. The 149 taxis "no longer believed in it", said Bellaiche, but they "are now happy and grateful to justice". The UberPop offer was active until the day after two Uber executives were taken into custody France. They were convicted in January 2022, along with Uber France, for deceptive commercial practice and complicity in the illegal exercise of the taxi business.