GLOBAL ride share giant Uber will pay $272 million AUS (around £140m) to settle a long-running dispute with Australian taxi and hire car drivers, it was announced today.

A class action against Uber had been expected to go to trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria today, but Maurice Blackburn Lawyers — representing 8,000 taxi and hire car drivers — said the case will be dropped because Uber agreed to the financial settlement.

Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Michael Donelly said that drivers and car owners suffered financial losses due to Uber’s aggressive entry into the market in 2012 and that the company consistently attempted to avoid compensating them.