Uber wins reprieve to carry on operating cars in London
Uber Technologies won a 15month probationary licence to operate in London after convincing a judge and regulators that the ride-sharing service had shaken off its gung-ho attitude of the past.
Judge Emma Arbuthnot criticised the company while granting the licence on Tuesday. The 15-month reprieve is far less than the five-year private hire permit the company held previously or the 18-month approval it originally sought at the hearing. In September, Transport for London (TfL) said Uber was not “fit and proper” because of safety and governance concerns.
The ruling came after oneand-a-half days of arguments in which lawyers for Uber insisted the company had replaced executives in an overhaul of its culture, improved passenger safety policies, and reset its testy relationship with the regulator. For TfL’s part, it effectively disengaged from the dispute and said that the main concerns had been addressed.
“Such a young business has suffered a number of growing pains, which have not been helped by what seemed to be a rather gung-ho attitude of those running the business in the very recent past,” Arbuthnot said in the ruling. “The attitude of the previous managers of Uber appeared to me on the evidence to be that of grow the business come what may.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan said Uber had been put on probation and the conditions would be monitored.