A proposed class action against Uber on behalf of taxi and limousine licence holders and drivers will be extended to Queensland.
Maurice Blackburn has been investigating plans for a multimillion-dollar class action against ride-sharing giant Uber in Victoria.
The law firm was due to announce on Wednesday that it would extend its proposed class action to include Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.
However, while arguing Uber should be held to account, the Taxi Council of Queensland stopped short of advising its members to join the class action at this stage.
Taxi Council of Queensland chief executive Blair Davies said members should take their time to fully consider all elements of the class action before deciding whether to join.
"Today's announcement by Maurice Blackburn gives Queensland taxi licence owners and operators an opportunity that wasn't available yesterday," he said.
"However, our advice to members would be to take the time to weigh up their options carefully before committing to join this class action."
Mr Davies said TCQ had been helping Maurice Blackburn for more than 10 months and had provided information about Uber's operations in Queensland between April 2014 and September 2016 when ride-sharing was illegal in the state.
He said it appeared the case was materially stronger for taxi industry members in Queensland compared with other states, especially Victoria.
"It would be a disaster for Queensland taxi and limousine licence owners and operators if they lost their ability to sue Uber as a result of joining a class action that floundered or was distracted by prioritisation of factually different circumstances in another state," he said.
The class action case has the support of UK-based litigation funder Harbour Litigation, meaning members will not be exposed to out of pocket costs.
In the case of a win, costs to either Maurice Blackburn or the funder will be deducted from compensation paid to members.
"TCQ is aware that class actions in Australia have not always delivered outcomes in line with their beneficiaries' expectations," Mr Davies said.
"We understand that Maurice Blackburn has a better history than some of its counterparts in that regard.
"However we would welcome more assurances being provided to taxi licence owners and operators about what minimum share of a successful settlement will ultimately remain to be distributed to them."
Taxi and limousine licence owners, operators and drivers in Queensland will have six months to register to join the class action, which was expected to run for two to three years.
It comes after plans by taxi licence holders to launch a $1 billion compensation claim against the Queensland government.
The value of Brisbane's taxi licences has dropped by 79 per cent in recent years.
Standard taxi licences in Brisbane were selling for an average of more than half a million dollars in 2014 but that price dropped to $103,828 in 2018.