Transport for London (TfL) has announced that Uber will not be issued a new private hire licence.
The ride-hailing firm’s current licence is due to run until 30th September, and it has 21 days to appeal against TfL’s decision, and option Uber will take up while it continues to operate until a decision is reached.
TfL decided that the ride-hailing app was not fit to hold a London private hire operator licence, and took the decision on the grounds of “public safety and security implications”.
Over 3.5 million passengers and 40,000 drivers use the Uber platform in London, while Uber operates in more than 600 cities around the world.
Uber said the decision showed the world “far from being open, London is closed to innovative companies”. Opponents of the firm, meanwhile, claim it does not do enough to regulate its drivers.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said, “I fully support TfL’s decision – it would be wrong if TfL continued to licence Uber if there is any way that this could pose a threat to Londoners’ safety and security.”
Uber’s chief executive Travis Kalanick, who helped found the company in 2009, resigned in July following a series of scandals and criticism of his management style
In June, 20 staff were sacked after a law firm investigated specific complaints made to the company about sexual harassment, bullying, and retaliation for reporting problems.
In October 2016 Uber lost a landmark employment tribunal in the UK which ruled drivers should be classed as workers rather than being self-employed.
Across the world, Uber has been pushed out or denied access by local licensing laws. In 2014, the New Delhi government banned app-based taxi companies after an Uber driver raped a passenger in his vehicle.
Uber’s general manager in London Tom Elvidge said, “By wanting to ban our app from the capital, Transport for London and the mayor have caved in to a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice.
“If this decision stands, it will put more than 40,000 licensed drivers out of work and deprive Londoners of a convenient and affordable form of transport. To defend the livelihoods of all those drivers, and the consumer choice of millions of Londoners who use our app, we intend to immediately challenge this in the courts.”
