In a decision dated April 9, 2025, the French Supreme Court clarified the modalities for compensation for damage resulting from unfair commercial practices.
In the case at hand, taxi drivers sued Uber France on the grounds of unfair competition, arguing that the UberPop service had been launched in violation of the rules applicable to the regulated sector of paid passenger transport.
The Paris Court of Appeal upheld their claim and ordered Uber France to compensate the claimants for their economic loss. It held that the amount of the loss could be calculated by taking into account the unfair advantage gained by the author of the acts of unfair competition, in proportion to the respective turnover of the parties affected. An appeal was lodged with the French Supreme Court.
The Court of Cassation reiterated that it was possible to evaluate the economic damage by taking into account the unfair advantage obtained by the author of the unfair competition act, in proportion to the respective turnover of the parties affected by those acts. However, it overturned the appeal court’s ruling because the trial judges had found that the taxi drivers had not suffered a drop in their turnover during the period when the UberPop service was operating. Despite this finding, the Court of Appeal had calculated the damages for economic loss on the basis of the unfair advantage gained by Uber France and the “commercial disruption.” However, the method of calculating the unfair advantage (mentioned above) could not be applied to compensate for economic damage since that damage was not certain.
The Court nevertheless pointed out that “commercial disruption” may justify an order for compensation for non-pecuniary damage (irrefutably presumed), but not for economic damage if no loss of earnings or loss of opportunity to earn earnings has been established.
