Uber loses its London licence

• Transport bosses in capital strip minicab app of licence to operate in London
• They say the company has failed to address concerns over safety and security
• Statement reveals passengers on 14,000 trips were duped over their driver
• Uber has 21 days to appeal the decision during which time it can still operate

Uber has been stripped of its licence to operate in London after failing to stop unlicensed and uninsured drivers picking up thousands of passengers.

Transport for London (TfL) found that at least 14,000 trips were made with drivers who were different to the ones shown on the app.

This was due to a system change which allows unauthorised drivers to upload their photographs to legitimate Uber driver accounts, the transport body said.

At least one driver picking up fares had previously had their licence revoked, it emerged today.

The company now has 21 days to mount an appeal and can continue to operate during that time. It will have to convince a court it is ‘fit and proper’ by the time of the appeal.

The move  could end up seeing the app’s 45,000 drivers looking for other ways to make money, and thousands of customers searching for alternative apps. Unions meanwhile have welcomed the move as a strike back at the ‘gig economy’.

Announcing the bombshell decision, TfL’s director of licensing Helen Chapman said today: ‘As the regulator of private hire services in London we are required to make a decision today on whether Uber is fit and proper to hold a licence.

‘Safety is our absolute top priority. 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.

‘It is clearly concerning that these issues arose, but it is also concerning that we cannot be confident that similar issues won’t happen again in future.’

Tfl said it had identified ‘several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk’ and ‘does not have confidence that similar issues will not reoccur in the future’.

It comes two years after Transport for London first tried to pull the plug on the firm’s operations in London, following a number of crimes committed by drivers.

The move sparked a mixed reaction among Londoners, with some saying they rely on the app to get them places cheaply.

Others were less sympathetic with the firm, saying they were shocked at the security risks.

The firm’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi raged on Twitter: ‘We understand we’re held to a high bar, as we should be. But this TfL decision is just wrong.

‘Over the last 2 years we have fundamentally changed how we operate in London. We have come very far — and we will keep going, for the millions of drivers and riders who rely on us.’

Shares in Uber were down almost 6% in pre-market trading in New York.

Responding, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in a statement: ‘I know this decision may be unpopular with Uber users but their safety is the paramount concern.

‘Regulations are there to keep Londoners safe, and fully complying with TfL’s strict standards is essential if private hire operators want a licence to operate in London.’

Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union, welcomed the announcement and called for a level-playing field to allow traditional taxi services to compete.

‘There remains fundamental problems in the way the company operates, particularly issues around passenger safety,’ said Unite official Jim Kelly.

‘Uber’s DNA is about driving down standards and creating a race to the bottom which is not in the best interests of professional drivers or customers.’

But, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain – which represents gig economy workers – criticised TfL’s decision.

‘The mayor’s decision to once again deny Uber a license will come as a hammer blow to its 50,000 drivers working under precarious conditions,’ said James Farrar, chair of the union’s United Private Hire Drivers branch.

‘We are asking for an urgent meeting with the mayor to discuss what mitigation plan can now be put in place to protect Uber drivers.’

In September, Uber’s right to operate in the capital was extended by just two months after Transport for London (TfL) refused to grant a full five-year licence.

Uber was granted a 15-month licence by a judge in June 2018 after it appealed against a TfL decision not to renew its licence over safety and security concerns. The ride-hailing app’s existing licence was due to expire at 11.59pm today.

The reasons previously given for revoking the licence cited by TfL included: the company’s approach to reporting serious criminal offences, how drivers’ medical certificates were obtained, how criminal record checks were carried out and its use of technology which allegedly helped it evade law enforcement officials.

Uber says a range of new safety features have been introduced to its app in the past two years.

Uber’s regional general manager for northern and eastern Europe Jamie Heywood said today: ‘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. TfL found us to be a fit and proper operator just two months ago, and we continue to go above and beyond.

‘On behalf of the 3.5 million 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.’

Earlier this month, it launched a system which automatically checks on the well-being of drivers and passengers when a journey is interrupted by a long stop.

It also unveiled a discrimination reporting button on its app, and collaborated with the AA to produce a safety video to educate drivers on topics such as reading the road, speed, space management and how to drop off and pick up passengers safely.

There are around 45,000 Uber drivers in London.

How Uber’s reputation has been tainted by a series of cases where drivers have attacked passengers

The reputation Uber has gained for dangerous drivers has come from a series of court cases in the capital.

Earlier this month, UBber driver Temur Shah was jailed for sexually assaulting an ‘utterly defenceless’ passenger as she was sick out of his car door.

Hehad picked the 27-year-old female passenger up from a West End address in London in the early hours of the morning in January 2018.

The 45-year-old heard his passenger say she felt unwell during the journey and pulled over, asking her to move into the front seat of the car.

When she told him she was about to vomit he stopped a second time, then leaned over to open the door and put his hand under her bra, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

While she was being sick he then continued the assault, touching her genital area over her clothes, a court hard.

Scotland Yard previously criticised the firm after it emerged it failed to report 48 serious crimes.

In 2017, driver Jahir Hussain was jailed for 12 years for raping drunken women he picked up outside east London bars.

His first victim awoke to find Hussain fondling her breasts and undoing his belt on 12 October last year.

The woman lay still in the back of the cab frozen in fear as he raped her, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. Father-of-four Hussain then carried out two attacks in quick succession in the early hours of 2 December.

He wasn’t working for Uber at the time of the attacks, but the first of his two victims had booked an Uber cab and he said he was the driver.

In 2015, driver Samson Haile was jailed for eight months for sexually assaulting a female customer in the back of his taxi.

During a journey, the 32-year-old told the woman ‘you are very pretty’ and asked her if she had a boyfriend, before saying ‘I want to have sex with you’.

He then turned round in his seat and touched her leg with his hand, before moving it up to her thigh. Minutes later touched her again on the knee at which point she screamed to be let out of the car.

In 2017, mother Annastazia Merrett claimed she suffered a black eye in a racist assault by an Asian Uber driver who called her a ‘white b****’.

She said she was hit twice by the driver who refused to help her open a gate after dropping her off in Elephant and Castle, South London.

Police said a community resolution was agreed upon by both parties. Uber said the driver ‘strongly denied’ the allegations.

Last year, a hairdresser told how she required stitches after an angry Uber driver alleged dragged her down the road.

Sabrina Benltaief, 20, of Bromley, South East London, claimed the motorist drove off while she was leaning into the car and left her unconscious in the street before she later woke up in hospital.

Uber condemned the actions but no action was taken by police.

In 2017, head of the Metropolitan police’s taxi and private hire unit Neil Billany said Uber seemed to be ‘deciding what [crimes] to support’, in a letter seen by a Sunday newspaper.

He spoke of a ‘significant concern’ that Uber was only reporting ‘less serious matters’ that would be ‘less damaging to [its] reputation’.

He accused Uber of ‘allowing situations to develop that clearly affect the safety and security of the public’ by keeping drivers’ crimes from police — including at least six sexual assaults on passengers.

source:dailymail