Uber wins bid to dismiss £340m London black cab lawsuit

Uber has won its bid to throw out two linked lawsuits in London worth about £340 million, concluding a major legal challenge brought by thousands of black cab drivers and two defunct minicab companies, according to reporting by The Next Web and Reuters. The high-stakes litigation, which centered on allegations of misleading information given to regulators, was dismissed at London's High Court on Monday on the grounds that the claims were filed too late.

The litigation comprised two separate claims filed in 2024. Approximately 13,000 black cab drivers sought nearly £200 million in damages—with individual claims worth up to £25,000 each—while a separate claim brought on behalf of two former private hire firms, Kabbee and Iride, sought about £140 million as reported by the BBC. Claimants alleged that Uber provided misleading and inaccurate information to Transport for London (TfL) when it originally applied for its private hire operator licence in 2012, arguing that the licence should never have been granted and that Uber subsequently used it to undercut traditional black cab fares.

The underlying claims covered the period from 2012 to March 14, 2018, when Uber changed how it operated in London, according to a 2025 High Court ruling on the case. The drivers had argued that the legal clock should start later, contending they could not reasonably have discovered the alleged deception until a June 2018 court hearing over Uber’s licence, which followed TfL’s decision in 2017 to refuse a renewal. In October 2025, the court ordered a separate trial on that question alone, using 20 sample claimants with 10 picked by each side, leading to a hearing in late June.

Uber consistently denied the allegations, maintaining that it operates lawfully in the British capital with a full TfL licence. While the company asserted that the historical claims were unfounded, its primary legal defence rested on the Limitation Act 1980, which requires most such claims to be brought within a six-year period according to the Lexington Herald Leader. Judge Simon Birt agreed with Uber's timeline argument in a written ruling, concluding that the claimants could have discovered the alleged deception before 2018, rendering the 2024 lawsuits time-barred.

Because the judge dismissed the cases on these preliminary limitation grounds, the court did not examine the merits of the allegations as noted by Devdiscourse. The decision brings a swift end to what Uber termed legacy matters.

"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,"

Uber spokesperson, via Lexington Herald Leader

Meanwhile, the legal team managing the mass litigation voiced strong disagreement with the outcome.

"We are obviously very disappointed and are considering all options available to the claimant cab drivers with the legal team,"

RGL Management spokesperson, via Lexington Herald Leader

The dismissal arrives at a precarious time for the ride-hailing giant's UK operations and broader business interests. Uber faces an even larger legal battle next week, when it is scheduled to fight the British tax authority in a separate tax dispute valued at more than £1 billion.