If they are successful they believe Uber could be forced to pay "hundreds of millions of dollars". Defending the claims are seven Uber entities located across the globe, including in the US, Netherlands and Australia. Law firm Maurice Blackburn claims Uber deliberately entered markets where transport regulation was weak, and expanded aggressively in Australia by ignoring state transport laws that made it necessary to have a taxi or hire vehicle licences. Whenever drivers were fined for operating illegally, the fines were paid by Uber, the lawyers say. This "unlawful conduct" gave Uber a competitive advantage over those who followed the rules, they allege.

And, by doing this, Uber conspired to "injure" taxi and hire car drivers by unlawful means. In 2014, when regulators began issuing fines to Uber, court documents say that Uber developed a "Greyball" software tool, which enabled it to ban customers who were believed to be transport enforcement officers. Uber used those customers' mobile phone SIM and credit card details to make assumptions about their identity, and created separate accounts for some of these passengers that showed non-existent "ghost" vehicles. The ghost cars were used to make it appear as though the Uber app was working normally. Uber has had a "devastating impact ... on the lives of hard-working and law-abiding citizens here," a lawyer representing the plaintiffs says. Credit:Bloomberg

Leading the charge against Uber is Melbourne-based taxi driver, operator and licence owner Nick Andrianakis, who lost "hundreds of thousands of dollars" once Uber hit the streets in 2014. Between 2013 and 2017, Mr Andrianakis' annual profit dropped drastically from $37,200 to $1600. "I invested in taxis, that was my superannuation, I’ve lost my superannuation," said Mr Andrianakis, who worked 12-hour shifts, six days per week, and owned three taxi licences in the 1980s and 1990s for nearly $300,000. "I’ve also had a heart attack, early when this started happening." Taxi driver Nick Andrianakis.

I invested in taxis, that was my superannuation, I’ve lost my superannuation. Nick Andrianakis The company's viability in Australia depended upon a "rapid increase in demand" for services and a "rapid recruitment of a large and widely dispersed network of riders", it is alleged. One of Uber's policies, created in 2013, was to launch in locations with "low barriers to entry", amounting to "favourable regulatory environment", the lawyers argue. "If clear and consistent enforcement action had taken place within 30 days of a competitor rolling out a ridesharing service, then it would not roll out UberX in that jurisdiction," the court documents state. UberX set up in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in April 2014.

'We have zero dollars in the bank' The company's arrival in Australia has devastated Christine and Con Bios, who have joined the class action. Since their teens the couple have worked 12 to 18 hour shifts, seven days a week, to make a good life here. The Greek couple toiled away in factories and invested what they could in four taxi licences, amounting to nearly $2 million. "The kids gew up without me around them," Christine said, crying.

And now? "We have zero dollars in the bank." Christine and Con Bios were taxi licence owners who have been devastated by what they have lost. Credit:Jason South After the value of their taxi licences plummeted, Con had triple bypass surgery and Christine developed an autoimmune disease, Scleroderma. "Stress has killed us," Christine said.

"You work hard to achieve something in life. But to work hard and to come out with nothing? It's not right." Stress has killed us. You work hard to achieve something in life. But to work hard and to come out with nothing? It's not right. Christine Bios Among the companies defending the class action are US-based parent company and Uber app creator Uber Inc, as well as Uber app operator Uber B.V. in the Netherlands and Uber Holding, which took care of the company’s international operations. Others defending the claim are Uber Australia, which was set up in 2012, and Raiser Operations and Raiser Pacific in the Netherlands, which were licenced to run the rideshare app. Uber denies it operated illegally in Australia and says it will vigorously defend the claims.