US: 3rd Circuit to consider cab companies’ Uber antitrust claims

A group of Philadelphia taxi companies on Tuesday, November 14, will urge a US appeals court to revive their claims that Uber Technologies Inc skirted costly regulations and lured away drivers in order to create an illegal monopoly.

A three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the Philadelphia Taxi Association’s appeal of a judge’s decision that said the group and nearly 80 companies it represents failed to show any injury resulting from Uber’s conduct.

In April a judge said that the Philadelphia Taxi Association’s arguments were not sufficient because they didn’t establish any negative impact Uber’s presence in the market had on the price, quality or quantity of taxicab or vehicle-for-hire services. He dismissed the complaint with prejudice.

The Philadelphia Taxi Association, which was formed in April 2015, some six months after Uber first entered the Philadelphia market in 2014, had initially sued Uber in March 2016 accusing it of attempting to create a monopoly in the city and alleging that traditional cab companies took on heavy financial losses since Uber came on the scene.

The group and the other taxicab companies said that the value of taxicab licenses, or medallions, had dropped from US$530,000 before Uber arrived in Philadelphia to US$80,000 after Uber’s arrival and that many operators have abandoned their taxicabs and now drive for Uber, according to court documents.

Full Content: Reuters

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