Uber to pay $178 million to settle lawsuit with Australia taxi drivers, law firm says

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Uber has agreed to pay A$271.8 million ($178.3 million) to settle a lawsuit in Australia brought by taxi operators and drivers, who alleged they lost income when the ride-hailing company moved into the country, a law firm said on Monday.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers filed the class action in 2019 in the Supreme Court of Victoria state on behalf more than 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers, which the law firm said "Uber fought tooth and nail at every point along the way."

"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," an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed response.

Uber did not disclose the proposed settlement in its response.

"What our group members asked for was not another set of excuses - but an outcome," Maurice Blackburn said.

($1 = 1.5246 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)