Uber in London, soon the end? The London Transport Authority (TfL) announced Monday, November 25, refused to renew the license to practice the US business in the British capital. The regulator points to a very high number of unauthorized drivers who are registered on the booking platform, at the risk of endangering users.
The platform immediately announced that it would appeal this decision, adding that it would continue to operate until a final decision is made.
Uber is "not able" to hold a license in London, said Transport for London in a statement, due to "failures" that endanger "users", including "unauthorized drivers who have exploited the weaknesses of the app to transport thousands of passengers ".
TfL acknowledged that Uber has made welcome changes to the safety of its users, but these are insufficient, depending on the governance. "TfL is not confident that such problems will no longer arise in the future, leading to the conclusion that the company is not able to practice at the moment", she detailed.
Uber also suspended license in London in 2017
In September, TfL had renewed for only two months the license to practice Uber, pending guarantees that the US giant meets its requirements in terms of security. Among the security features launched by Uber, passengers can now directly contact emergency services through the app.
The company has 45,000 drivers and 3.5 million customers in the British capital.
In 2017, the TfL had deprived the US giant of its license for security reasons, but Uber had continued to practice in the British capital before a victory in a court of appeal that had granted him a fifteen-month license.
Uber is regularly blamed for safety problems on board for both its users and drivers, which has contributed to its reputation around the world, not to mention the controversy over the insufficient remuneration of its drivers.
With AFP