Connecticut Cab Companies Drop Lawsuit Against Uber

More than a dozen taxi and limousine companies in Connecticut have dropped their federal lawsuit accusing ride-hailing company Uber of failing to follow state laws and regulations on taxi services, their lawyer said Tuesday.

The company owners have “no faith” that state lawmakers will pass regulations governing Uber and similar companies, attorney Mary Alice Moore Leonhardt said. Many taxi companies have lost a lot of business because of Uber’s unfair advantage of not having to follow the same rules, she said.

“It appears that the state has decided to allow Uber to run cars all over the state while restraining taxicab drivers from competing with Uber drivers on a level playing field,” Moore Leonhardt said. “Many of these businesses which are being destroyed by state officials are owned by minorities and women. It is very disturbing.”

The lawsuit filed in May 2014 in federal court in Hartford, Connecticut, alleged Uber was violating racketeering, unfair trade and other laws because it essentially is the same as a taxi service but doesn’t follow taxi laws and regulations. A judge on March 31 approved Uber’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit after the taxi companies missed a document filing deadline.

An Uber representative said in a statement that the company supports “common sense” regulations for its industry and is working with Connecticut lawmakers on new insurance regulations, which are pending in the legislature.

Legislation that would have required Uber and similar companies to abide by a new regulatory system died in the General Assembly last year.

Uber officials previously said that many of the safety measures in the failed bill were already being followed by the company. Uber, for example, does background checks on drivers and requires drivers to have insurance, company officials said.

San Francisco-based Uber, which allows people to schedule rides via a cellphone app, has thousands of drivers in Connecticut.