Quite an old article that I missed last month.
Ola wins new London licence after TfL lifts banhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... n-tfl-put/Ola has reached a truce with Transport for London, overturning a ban on the taxi-booking app that is a rival to Uber.
TfL said Ola, an Indian company backed by the tech investment giant SoftBank, had “taken a number of steps” to ease safety concerns.
It had been suspended last October after TfL said the company had reported more than 1,000 cases of unlicensed drivers using the app to transport passengers, which it said could put them in danger.
Ola had continued to operate in the capital as it appealed the decision but faced the prospect of being forced out if the challenge was unsuccessful. This week it was given a 15-month licence.
TfL said the new licence, approved in court this week, was granted with “strict conditions”, which are understood to include better procedures for reporting drivers to the authority. It will also have to comply with a recent High Court ruling forcing apps such as Uber and Ola to overhaul their business models.
The ruling, which declared that operators rather than individual drivers contract with passengers, is likely to lead to higher prices by making rides subject to VAT.
A spokesman for TfL said: “In October 2020, TfL refused Ola a licence to operate due to significant concerns with its systems and processes that were in place at that time. Since then Ola has taken a number of steps to resolve the issues identified by TfL."
Ola said: “We welcome the licence decision, which reflects our continuous commitment and proactive approach to providing safe and reliable services in London and the steps we have taken in the last 14 months.
“We will comply with the requirements set out in the order. We look forward to continue working closely and collaboratively with TfL and providing our services to riders and drivers in London."
Ola launched in London in February last year and its impact on the capital’s increasingly competitive taxi market has been limited by the pandemic. Uber is also facing competition from Estonia’s Bolt and Germany’s FreeNow.
It has signed up around 37,000 drivers and completed 12m journeys in the UK. Its drivers operate in around 20 other towns and cities outside of London.
Uber has also overturned two TfL bans after committing to safety improvements.
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