Birmingham to consider London’s Uber ban at renewal hearing

A DECISION by Transport for London not to renew taxi app Uber’s licence will form part of the consideration when the firm looks to renew its permission with Birmingham City Council.

A review of the firm’s licence due at the end of January.

It was revealed this week that Uber would not be granted a new licence to operate in London after

is repeated safety failures. Among these were a change to systems which allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other Uber driver accounts, resulting in 14,000 fraudulent trips in London in late 2018 and early 2019.

The company has announced its intention to appeal the decision, and will continue operating in the capital

Uber has been operating in Birmingham since 2015, but with its next renewal due on January 31, Birmingham City Council said it would be considering the decision of Transport for London (TfL) when hearing the application.

“The licensing legislation governing private hire operators is different

until

this process

is complete. in London to the majority of the rest of the country,” a spokesman said. “We will review the decision made by TfL, although it is not binding on any other licensing authority and is still open to appeal and will not take effect (or not) until any appeal is determined.

“The Uber licence issued by Birmingham City Council is not due for renewal until 2020. Each case must be merits.”

Despite the introduction of Uber in 2015, recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the number of taxi firms in the West Midlands has actually increased.

A total of 445 taxi businesses were operating in the region in 2018, compared to 435 in 2015.

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