Melbourne cab drivers are suing Uber for $500 million, claiming the ride sharing giant deprived them of their livelihoods.

The Maurice Blackburn-led class action law suit, set to be filed in the coming weeks, will look to recover profits allegedly lost during Uber's operation in Melbourne prior to it being legalised in Victoria

Taxi drivers are also suing for damages, with a successful case expected to bring a payout of more than $500 million – the same amount awarded to Black Saturday bushfire victims.

Melbourne cab drivers sue Uber for $500 million in damages and 'lost profits'. (AAP)

“Black Saturday as people know was the largest settlement in Australian legal history,” Andrew Watson from Maurice Blackburn told 9News.

“This case will be in that order.”

Commercial Passenger Vehicle Association President Rod Barton said Uber is being targeted because they came into the Victorian market “knowing full well it was the requirement under law to have a taxi or hire car license to operate”.

Commercial Passenger Vehicle Association President Rod Barton wants a level playing field between Uber and taxi drivers. (Nine)

"They choose not to do so and had a huge commercial advantage over the operators here and that advantage has caused us enormous financial harm,” Mr Barton said.

"We are pursuing them for the loss of income and the destruction of our licenses."

The case has already received $20 million in legal funding from UK-based Harbour Litigation Funding.

"We've got the best law firm in the country, we’ve got an international funder who is prepared to put up many millions of dollars to put this on," Mr Barton said.

The class action law suit, set to be filed in the coming weeks, will look to recover profits allegedly lost during Uber's operation in Melbourne prior to being legalised. (APP)

"We needed a funder who has pockets deep enough to run with Uber.

"These people aren't going to risk this sort of money if they didn’t think there was a good chance."

Uber first arrived in Australia in November 2012, but was not legal in Victoria until August 2017.

Drivers are also suing for damage, with a successful case expected to bring a payout of more than $500 million – the sum awarded to Black Saturday bushfire victims. (AP)

Taxi licenses peaked at $500,000 in 2010, but the inking of a deal between Uber and the Victorian government saw that price plunge to $55, making it more accessible for drivers.

The deal has since seen the total amount of cabs in service nearly double from 5600 to 10,500.

The number of registered private hire cars operating under services like Uber also skyrocketed from 2800 in 2016 to 35,000, following Uber legalisation.

"We've said from the very beginning, we can't stop Uber from coming into the market, all we wanted was a level playing field," Mr Barton said.

Mr Watson added: “It’s not a business model that should be tolerated, and it shouldn’t allow those who suffer the consequences to be uncompensated”.

In a statement to 9NEWS, Uber said they are "continuing to focus on a good experience for drivers in Victoria using the Uber app as a flexible earning opportunity".