Uber loses operating license in London

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that Uber will not be granted a new license to operate in London. The regulator said the taxi app was not “fit and proper” as a licence holder, despite having made a number of positive changes to its operations. The firm says it will appeal against the decision and can continue to operate during that process. It had received an additional two-month extension in September which expired on Sunday 24th November.

About 45,000 drivers work for Uber in London, and if its licence is ultimately rejected all of them could lose their jobs. However, there are other apps providing a similar service which they could join.

Nick Woodward, CEO of ETZ Payments, commented on the announcement: “This news could come as a huge blow to the 45,000 drivers in London who work on the Uber platform, but one of the benefits of being freelance is that they do have the option to work for other companies as well as the famed ride-hailing app. With both Ola and ViaVan being offered licenses this year, this market and its operators are expanding, giving workers and customers more choice. If this decision by TfL is upheld, there will be a large gap in the market that these players will be racing to fill and a vast sum of drivers looking for other platforms to operate on. 

Safety has to be TfL’s priority and Sadiq Khan said that 14,000 Uber journeys have involved fraudulent drivers uploading their photos to other driver accounts, this decision is not surprising. If the new and existing players learn from Uber’s mistakes, this could be a very exciting time for freelancers in the ride-hailing market over the next three to five years.” 

ETZ Payments provide back-office recruitment software for recruiters and more information about their services can be found on their website.