Taxi Driver Online

Uber London wins TfL licence battle: Taxi app wins appeal to continue operating in UK capital for 15 months

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/uber ... 72441.html

Ride-hailing app firm Uber will continue to operate in the capital after winning an appeal against Transport for London’s decision not to renew its licence.

After a two-day hearing, chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot concluded that the taxi app firm is "fit and proper" to hold an operating licence in the capital.

The firm had its licence granted for a period of 15 months.

Uber was told by TfL last September that its licence would not be renewed due to concerns over public safety and security.

Ms Arbuthnot made the decision after Uber claimed it had made “substantial changes” to how it conducts its business.

Earlier in the hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the firm admitted the original decision not to renew its licence was correct.

It conceded a string of failings but said the licence should be renewed as it has made "wholesale" reforms.

The 15-month licence given to Uber is described as "probationary".

The taxi company has also agreed to pay all of TfL's costs for the appeal process. This comes to a total of £425,000.

Ms Arbuthnot said in her judgement that she had considered the evidence and submissions in the case, and that "taking into account the new governance arrangements Uber is now fit and proper".

She says the issue is whether Uber can be trusted and whether it will maintain the changes it has made in recent months.

She says for TfL customer safety is a clear priority while Uber, in growing its business, has in recent years adopted a "gung ho attitude" while the aims of previous managers were to "grow the business come what may".

She says however the list of issues concerning Uber has narrowed between when the licence was revoked and the time of the court date, and in court TfL has taken a neutral stance.

In view of TfL's 'neutral' stance and the speed with which it's all been decided, suspect this was effectively a done deal before the hearing took place.

A bit disappointed with the judgement because Uber haven't been called to task for the long list of iffy stuff they have admitted to in the past.

If any of us presented an application with that long list on there is no way we would get a license.

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IDFIMH

Did they give false information on their application for a operators license,if so they should appear in court for doing so.
We all know from all reports over time that this did take place on their applications.

Piece by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan:

Now Uber has had its licence restored it must prove to TfL and to me that it's really changed

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ub ... 18236.html

The firm now acknowledges that London’s decision to refuse a renewal last year served as a wake-up call for their operations and attitude across the world

Transport for London’s decision not to grant Uber an operating licence last September, which I fully supported, was based on a simple premise: that everyone must play by the same rules – no matter how big or powerful they may be.

As the regulator of all taxi and private hire vehicles in London, TfL’s most important job is to keep Londoners safe. They set the rules and standards for safety across the whole industry. It is right that every single operator is expected to abide by both the spirit and the letter of those rules.

It is easy to bow to pressure from big and powerful companies with an army of lawyers and PR experts. As the Mayor of London, I backed TfL’s decision last September – and we have been vindicated in court this week.

Uber have now accepted in open court that TfL was right not to grant them a licence to operate at the time. In Uber’s own words, they had made “serious mistakes” that left TfL unable to conclude they were fit and proper to hold an operator’s licence. Uber apologised for their past mistakes and set out a long list of things they have done since September to try to change their approach to safety and improve their wider culture.

The court decided to grant Uber a short-term licence – 15 months rather than the usual 5 years – with a series of stringent conditions attached that they must meet in order to keep operating. Uber have been ordered to pay all of TfL’s legal costs and been put on probation by the court until they can prove the changes they have made are genuine, sufficient and long-lasting.

At the time of TfL’s decision last September some were depressingly quick to make the knee-jerk accusation that it was somehow anti-business. But, as the court proceedings have made clear, it was the right decision to make.

As Mayor, I’m working to ensure that London continues to be at the forefront of innovation and a natural home for exciting new companies that help Londoners by providing a good and affordable service. We have seen a huge increase in tech companies starting, growing and investing in London over the last two years. I want exciting new business to thrive in London, but everyone has to play by the rules.

New technology and innovation have a crucial role to play in improving the lives of Londoners and TfL works in close partnership with the tech sector on a daily basis to make travelling across the city easier. TfL has, for example, led the world in making data freely and openly available for innovators and developers to use.

Uber has become a popular service, used by millions of Londoners. As a result of London’s tough stance with Uber, there is increasing evidence that the new CEO of Uber is making reforms that should leave their service worldwide safer and better for passengers and drivers alike.

At the time of TfL’s decision last September some were depressingly quick to make the knee-jerk accusation that it was somehow anti-business. But, as the court proceedings have made clear, it was the right decision to make.

As Mayor, I’m working to ensure that London continues to be at the forefront of innovation and a natural home for exciting new companies that help Londoners by providing a good and affordable service. We have seen a huge increase in tech companies starting, growing and investing in London over the last two years. I want exciting new business to thrive in London, but everyone has to play by the rules.

New technology and innovation have a crucial role to play in improving the lives of Londoners and TfL works in close partnership with the tech sector on a daily basis to make travelling across the city easier. TfL has, for example, led the world in making data freely and openly available for innovators and developers to use.

Uber has become a popular service, used by millions of Londoners. As a result of London’s tough stance with Uber, there is increasing evidence that the new CEO of Uber is making reforms that should leave their service worldwide safer and better for passengers and drivers alike.

One of the most startling revelations of the court case was that hundreds of drivers were dismissed after the company went back and reviewed their caseload of complaints – many of these drivers would probably still be working on our streets if it wasn’t for TfL’s decision last September.

But as ever, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, and Uber will now have to work very hard to prove they have truly changed.

When the decision was taken not to renew their licence, Uber were taking a dangerously lax approach to public safety. The lack of proactive reporting of alleged crimes to the police was extremely alarming – a feeling shared by the Met police. TfL have made it crystal clear that safety must be at the top of the agenda for all private hire operators.

Uber has now introduced systems for the proactive reporting of allegations straight to the police and have promised to take further steps to prevent offences happening in the first place. We will hold them to that commitment.

The company’s previous approach also consistently showed a total disregard for the rules by which everyone in the industry must play – they thought they were too big and too powerful to be held to the same standards as everyone else. Their approach was dismissive and misleading, lacking the openness and transparency that the public rightly expects.

Uber have subsequently undertaken a major global overhaul of the way they are run. They have appointed three non-executive directors to the Uber London Board and introduced new arrangements which, they say, will ensure that the rules in London are fully observed and never compromised by bad behaviour either in London or elsewhere. Again, Uber will now have to prove that they have truly changed in order to hold on to their licence.

Uber have also made a series of changes outside of TfL’s remit as the private hire vehicle regulator – including introducing limits on the hours drivers spend at the wheel, and offering better terms for drivers such as insurance to cover sickness or injury. There are serious questions about whether these go far enough to address legitimate concerns about working conditions in the gig economy – which the Government needs to take far more seriously – but there are now protections that drivers simply would not have had if London hadn’t taken the tough stance we did.

Uber now acknowledges that London’s decision served as a wake-up call for their operations and attitude across the world. But this cannot be mere lip service – we must ensure that this change is genuine and lasting. That is why the court has only granted Uber a short-term licence with stringent conditions rather than a full five-year licence. TfL will ensure these conditions are strictly adhered to and any failure to meet them will be treated extremely seriously.

London’s stance with this global company is a model for how regulation and regulators should work: always putting public safety first and ensuring that everyone plays by the same rules – no matter how big or how powerful they are.

Sadiq Khan is the Mayor of London

Apparently published just after the announcement - no doubt Khan knocked it up in about ten minutes after he'd heard the decision of the court

All of which underlines that it was effectively a done deal, and that court just going through the motions. As I said about eight months ago: "But I wouldn't be surprised if TfL expected all along that Uber would continue, and they're just sabre rattling because Uber won't play ball on compliance, so effectively TfL's position is simply to force Uber's hand."

So Uber play ball, pay TfL's costs and all's well. And the costs to Uber, which sound a lot, are in reality only something like £10 per driver.

MP Wes Streeting isn't happy:

Mr Streeting – who also chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Taxis – said it seems like there is one rule for big corporations and another for small businesses.

“The decision by the court will be received as a kick in the teeth to the thousands of licensed taxi drivers and minicab operators who play by the rules,” he said.

“Uber has finally accepted that TfL was right to revoke their licence, having flouted their licensing conditions, putting passenger safety at risk and paid a substantial sum to criminal hackers to release the personal data of their customers and drivers before trying to cover it up.

“It is hard to imagine a black cab driver or small minicab operator being given this kind of second chance, but as ever it looks like one rule for the big corporation and another rule for the small businessmen and women of the taxi and private hire industry.”

Mr Streeting said he is pleased that TfL acted to “enforce the rules” with the support of the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in September 2017.

He called for them to now be “relentless” in holding Uber to account.

“Uber is now on notice to clean up their act,” he added.

“We will judge them by what they do, rather than what they say.”

come on guys did you really expect anything other

Uber have the biggest wallet in town what licencing authority isn't going to want a big fat wad from it

from TFL's point of view this is perfect they now can say they are forced to give Uber their license which means they can say they listened to everyone and tried to act

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector