Nearly 20,000 former and current New York City cabdrivers whose licenses were suspended after an arrest could receive as much as $140 million from the city because taxi regulators did not provide them a meaningful way to appeal the suspensions.

The payment, part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that was filed nearly two decades ago, could rank as one of the largest in the city’s history, legal experts and city officials said, depending on how many drivers come forward to collect.

In a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday, Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said he planned to approve a settlement payout from the city to qualifying taxi and ride-hail drivers who were arrested between 2003 and 2020 and then had their licenses suspended by the Taxi & Limousine Commission, the city agency that oversees the industry.

The city first unveiled the agreement with the cabdrivers in March, and Judge Sullivan issued a preliminary approval in May. The judge said on Wednesday that he agreed with the terms of the deal and that the matter of attorneys’ fees will be finalized in the coming weeks.

The plaintiffs will be paid according to how long their licenses were suspended. Those who were unable to drive their cabs for a year or more could receive as much as $36,000 before lawyers’ fees and other expenses, the claim said.

A spokesman for the taxi commission noted that it had amended its disciplinary practices in 2020, after the Second Circuit ruled that the commission’s process for appealing suspensions was unconstitutional. Under the updated policy, the agency must consider whether a driver is “a direct and substantial threat to public health or safety” in considering whether a suspension should be lifted. The changes, the spokesman said, showed “the agency’s commitment to protecting the rights and fair treatment of taxi drivers.”