Years after the Quebec government deregulated the taxi industry to allow services like Uber to operate, taxi drivers in Quebec have scored a court victory to the tune of $143 million.
A Quebec Superior Court judge awarded the sum in a ruling issued on Friday.
In 2019, Bill 17 was passed into law. The new law abolished the taxi permit system while integrating app-based ride-hailing services into provincial regulations.
Around the time the law was passed, services like Uber were expanding their operations in the province, prompting anger and protests from taxi drivers who had spent tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, to purchase their taxi permits.
After the law was passed, the Quebec government doled out more than $800 million in compensation to taxi drivers in the province, but they didn’t believe that amount was enough to make up for their losses.
The lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, Dama Métellus, claimed that the appropriate compensation total should’ve been slightly more than $1 billion. Métellus was seeking roughly $300 million in extra compensation.
Although Justice Silvana Conte settled on a lower number in the end, the ruling describes 2019 law as “disguised expropriation,” agreeing with the claim made by the lead plaintiff.
The lawsuit had also sought $1,000 in punitive damages for each member of the class action, but the judge rejected that request.
This story will be updated.