Uber has lost its licence to operate private hire vehicles in London after authorities found that more than 14,000 trips were taken with more than 40 drivers who had faked their identity on the Uber app.
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 yesterday said 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.”
The decision will not see Uber cars disappear from London immediately, as the firm has said it would appeal and could continue to operate pending the outcome provided it launched official proceedings within 21 days.
When TfL first rejected Uber’s licence renewal, in September 2017, the firm eventually persuaded judges to award it a 15-month licence to continue.
While TfL said Uber had since made positive improvements, reservations remained – including a change to systems that allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other drivers’ accounts. This security lapse resulted in at least 14,000 trips where someone other than the booked driver picked up passengers, TfL said.
The latest offence reported was less than three weeks ago. Some 43 fraudulent drivers have been discovered, including some whose licences had been revoked, one driver who had been cautioned for distributing indecent images of children.
Uber said it first notified TfL about the issue in May 2019 and had since implemented technical fixes to resolve it. A spokeswoman said an audit of all London drivers had demonstrated the fix was effective.
Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager, said: “TfL’s decision not to renew Uber’s licence in London is extraordinary and wrong, and we will appeal. We have fundamentally changed our business over the last two years and are setting the standard on safety.
“On behalf of the 3.5mn riders and 45,000 licensed drivers who depend on Uber in London, we will continue to operate as normal and will do everything we can to work with TfL to resolve this situation.” London remains one of Uber’s biggest worldwide markets. Shares in the firm fell almost 6% in pre-market trading in New York.
The Uber chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said the decision was “just wrong” after reforms that the firm had put in place. He tweeted: “We understand we’re held to a high bar, as we should be. But this TfL decision is just wrong. Over the last two years we have fundamentally changed how we operate in London.”
Steve McNamara, the general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, which represents London black-cab drivers, said: “It’s all about public safety and the mayor has taken the right decision.
“As far as we’re concerned Uber’s business model is essentially unregulatable. It is based on everyone doing what they want and flooding London with vehicles. Uber cannot guarantee that the cars are properly insured, or that the person driving the car is the one that is supposed to be driving, as recent incidents show.”
