Uber has lost its licence to operate private hire vehicles in London after the UK capital’s transport agency said it was “not fit and proper” to hold such a permit.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the Transport for London (TfL) said it had identified a “pattern of failures” by Uber, including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk.
UK authorities have reportedly discovered that more than 14,000 Uber trips were taken with uninsured drivers.
“Uber has made a number of positive changes and improvements to its culture, leadership and systems in the period since the Chief Magistrate granted it a licence in June 2018,” a TfL statement said.
However, the TfL statement noted that despite addressing some of these issues, it “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.”
The Bloomberg report quoted Helen Chapman, director of licensing, regulation and charging at TfL, as saying that safety is the authority’s “absolute top priority.”
She added, “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.”
Uber has 21 days to file an appeal with a magistrate against the decision and can continue to operate until then, as well as during the appeals 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,” said Chapman in the Bloomberg report.
Furthermore, she stated that if the company does file an appeal, the TfL will continue to closely scrutinise the company to “ensure the management has robust controls in place to ensure safety is not compromised during any changes to the app.”
