Transport for London has said that Uber will not be granted a new licence due to “repeated safety failures”.
The licence debacle began back in 2017 when the tech company initially lost its licence before being granted two extensions the latest of which expires on Monday. Uber appealed the ban and will be able to continue operating until the appeal process is over.
Transport for London chose not to renew uber’s licence citing that they identified a pattern of failures that put the safety of passengers at risk:
- a change to Uber’s systems which allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other Uber driver accounts resulting in at least 14 000 fraudulent trips between late 2018 and early 2019.
- Dismissed & suspended drivers were able to create new accounts and carry passengers nullifying the dismissal/suspension – a driver was able to continue working for Uber, despite having his private hire licence revoked for distributing indecent images of children.
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.
Helen Chapman, director of licensing at Transport for London
With over 45 000 drivers in London, losing their licence in one of their top territories would come as a huge blow to Uber.
