Uber-no-more: ride-hailing service to lose London operating license

Oct 04, 2017

Written By Becky Kells, Editor, AllAboutLaw

Your days of being driven home from a night out in a Toyota Prius are officially numbered: Transport For London will not be renewing Uber's licence to operate in London. The ride-hailing service has 21 days to appeal the decision, but otherwise, Uber will lose permission to operate on the capital's roads on 30th September 2017. TFL cited a number of legal transgressions that led them to make this decision.

Uber was told today, on the 22nd September 2017, that its private hire operator licence would not be renewed after its expiry. TFL released a statement saying that Uber displayed a "lack of corporate responsibility", which in turn had put the safety and security of users at risk. Specifically, TFL's statement highlighted Uber's "approach to reporting serious criminal offences", its "approach to how medical certificates are obtained" and its approach to obtaining DBS checks for workers.

Uber has faced criticism on many of its operating policies since its arrival in the UK, on everything from its tactics for dominating the market and eclipsing London's traditional black cabs, to its controversial drivers' rights. It faced a lawsuit in the UK over the latter, in which it was ruled that workers should be entitled to sick pay, and have the right to a minimum wage. Uber had avoided doing so by classing drivers as "self-employed".

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