Uber Denied New Operator's License By London's Transport Regulator

Transport for London has concluded that it will not grant Uber London Limited (UBER) a new private hire operator's licence in response to its latest application.

The agency said in a statement, "As the regulator of taxi and private hire services in London, TfL is required to make a decision on Uber's fitness and propriety before its current licence expires. Safety is TfL's number one priority. 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. This includes interacting with TfL in a transparent and productive manner. However, TfL has identified a pattern of failures by the company including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk. 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.

In September Uber was granted a two-month licence as further information was required on these issues, some of which emerged late in the process of its reapplication. A key issue identified was that a change to Uber's systems allowed unauthorized drivers to upload their photos to other Uber driver accounts. This allowed them to pick up passengers as though they were the booked driver, which occurred in at least 14,000 trips - putting passenger safety and security at risk. This means all the journeys were uninsured and some passenger journeys took place with unlicensed drivers, one of which had previously had their licence revoked by TfL."