Uber loses license to operate in London over safety concerns
Uber’s future in London has been plunged into doubt with city transport officials refusing to renew its license to operate over “several” concerns.
Motoring
Don't miss out on the headlines from Motoring. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Uber has been dealt a major blow after losing its license to operate in London over a series of safety and security concerns.
London’s transit authority refused to renew the company’s license on Monday, saying it had identified “several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk”.
It’s the latest chapter in the ride-hailing app’s rocky history with Transport for London (TFL), which has been subjecting the San Francisco-based company to ever tighter scrutiny.
The company’s license will now expire at 11.59pm on Monday (local time), but Uber has vowed to appeal the decision, calling it “extraordinary and wrong”.
It has 21 days to file an appeal and will be allowed to continue operating in the meantime.
TFL said while Uber had addressed some of its safety concerns, it did not deem the app “fit and proper” to operate.
“Safety is our absolute top priority,” director of licensing, regulation and charging Helen Chapman said.
“While we recognise Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured.
“It is clearly concerning that these issues arose, but it is also concerning that we cannot be confident that similar issues won’t happen again in future.”
But Uber fired back in a statement, pointing out that TFL had found it “fit and proper” in September, when it was given a two-month license renewal.
“We have fundamentally changed our business over the last two years and are setting the standard on safety,” Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, said.
TFL has been keeping Uber on a tight leash following concerns about aggressive corporate tactics and passenger safety.
It once revoked Uber’s license in 2017, but a court later granted it a license lasting only 15 months, which TFL then extended for two more months in September, while also imposing a set of 20 stricter conditions.
In the latest decision, the transit authority explained it was concerned that Uber’s systems “seem to have been comparatively easily manipulated” by drivers.
One key issue was a change to Uber’s systems allowing unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other driver accounts.
This let them pick up passengers as though they were the booked Uber driver on at least 14,000 trips, which means all those journeys were uninsured, TFL said.
The change also resulted in some passengers travelling with unlicensed drivers, including one whose license was previously revoked by TFL.
TFL also faulted Uber for another “failure” that allowed dismissed or suspended drivers to create a new account and carry passengers. And it cited other “serious breaches” involving unspecified insurance-related issues.
Shares in Uber were down almost 6 per cent in pre-market trading in New York.
-With wires
Originally published as Uber loses license to operate in London over safety concerns