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The City of Ottawa has fired back at a taxi bigwig whose mega lawsuit claims municipal taxpayers owe cabbies millions because council is creating a dual licensing regime.

In a statement of defence filed in court Tuesday, the city dismisses Marc Andre Way’s allegations and accuses the taxi industry of dragging its heels in competing with Uber.

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Way and the members of a proposed class action suit “lobbied the city to eliminate their perceived competition rather than compete with Uber in the marketplace for customer preference,” the city’s statement says.

Way, the co-owner of Metro Taxi and the city’s largest single plateholder, and about 755 people in the taxi industry are suing the city for $215 million. They accuse the city of failing to enforce its taxi bylaw and creating a licensing system that drove up the market value of taxi plates. Metro Taxi operates business as Capital Taxi.

None of the allegations in either the lawsuit or the city’s statement of defence has been tested in court.