Taxi owners sue NYC for allowing Uber to “eviscerate” business
Owners of New York City's taxi "medallions" filed a lawsuit against city regulators today, saying their business has been devastated by the decision to allow companies like Uber to compete. According to the suit, White & Blue Group, which manages the largest fleet of leased taxis in New York, "has seen its monthly leasing income drop as much as 50% in the past year," and has been forced to idle as much as 20% of its fleet daily. The complaint says Uber’s rise contributed to the July bankruptcy of 22 companies run by taxi magnate Evgeny Freidman, and the state’s seizure last month of Montauk Credit Union, which specialised in medallion loans. “Defendants’ deliberate evisceration of medallion taxicab hail exclusivity, and their ongoing arbitrary, disparate regulatory treatment of the medallion taxicab industry, has and continues to inflict catastrophic harm on this once iconic industry, and the tens of thousands of hardworking men and women that depend on it for their livelihood,” the complaint says.

New York City taxi owners and credit unions are suing the city and its Taxi and Limousine Commission for letting Uber expand despite the harm it has caused their business. The lawsuit, filed today in Manhattan federal court, accuses city regulators of easing the pathway for ride-hailing services to operate with fewer burdens, according to a report today from Reuters. The lawsuit could represent one of the last dying gasps of the country's largest taxi industry, which has moved on from its losing fight against Uber in hopes of extracting damages from the city itself.

The complaint states that medallion prices, which help artificially restrict the supply of city cabs, have fallen 40 percent from an all-time high of more than $1 million between April and June of this year. Meanwhile, the number of cab pickups fell by 3.83 million. Uber rides in Manhattan increased by 3.82 million in the same time period, the complaint says. The complaint also cites Uber as a primary contributor to the July bankruptcy filing of 22 taxi cab companies run by mogul Evgeny Freidman and the state's seizing of a credit union that specializes in medallion loans back in September.

Taxi medallion prices have fallen 40 percent

The plaintiffs include the Melrose, Progressive and Lomto Federal credit unions, which have loaned upwards of $2.4 billion for more than 4,600 taxi medallions; individual medallion holders; and the Taxi Medallion Owner Driver Association and League of Mutual Taxi Owners, both of which collectively represent more than 4,000 medallion holders.