Uber loses license to drive in London

Ride-hailing service Uber has lost its license to operate private hire vehicles in London, after Transport For London authorities discovered that over 14,000 trips were taken with more than 40 drivers operating under fake identities on the Uber app.

The Uber cars won't disappear from London streets right away -- the company plans to appeal.

From The Guardian:

Transport for London announced the decision not to renew the ride-hailing firm’s licence at the end of a two-month probationary extension granted in September. Uber was told then it needed to address issues with checks on drivers, insurance and safety, but has failed to satisfy the capital’s transport authorities.

TfL said on Monday it had identified a “pattern of failures” by Uber, including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk.

In a statement, TfL said: “Despite addressing some of these issues, TfL does not have confidence that similar issues will not reoccur in the future, which has led it to conclude that the company is not fit and proper at this time.”

Uber denies everything, of course. from Reuters:

“Over the last two months we have audited every driver in London,” said Uber’s boss in Northern and Eastern Europe Jamie Heywood.

“We have robust systems and checks in place to confirm the identity of drivers and will soon be introducing a new facial matching process, which we believe is a first in London taxi and private hire.”

We understand we’re held to a high bar, as we should be. But this TfL decision is just wrong. Over the last 2 years we have fundamentally changed how we operate in London. We have come very far — and we will keep going, for the millions of drivers and riders who rely on us.

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) November 25, 2019

Good. All they had to do was pay their employees properly, institute proper safety standards and stop spying on everyone who used their service.

If they can’t/won’t do those things then they can sod off https://t.co/Nzj8fo4ejy

— Miss IG Geek (@MissIG_Geek) November 25, 2019

feels like any response needs to acknowledge the 14,000 rides with completely unvetted and uninsured strangers? https://t.co/dfzRWckV4J

— hern (@alexhern) November 25, 2019

TfL placing much emphasis on appeal process: 'If they choose to appeal, Uber will have the opportunity to publicly demonstrate to a magistrate whether it has put in place sufficient measures to ensure potential safety risks to passengers are eliminated." https://t.co/vcFtYHln7z

— Charles Holland (@charlescholland) November 25, 2019

This effectively kickstarts the same process that followed the original license rescind back in 2017 -- Uber will have to present its case to a magistrate, who will then decide whether Uber's license should be renewed. Will this just go on and on forever?

— Paul Sawers (@psawers) November 25, 2019

Just in - London transport authority says Uber is not “fit and proper” for a license. Uber has 21 days to decide whether or not to appeal, and is allowed to keep operating in London through the appeals process. https://t.co/fo2fJjcqpK

— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) November 25, 2019