London allows Uber to operate

Uber Technologies Inc. won a 15-month probationary license to operate in London after convincing a judge and regulators that the ride-hailing company had shaken off its attitude of growing its business regardless of consequences.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot criticized the company while granting the license Tuesday. The 15-month license is far less than the five-year permit the company had previously or the 18-month approval it originally sought at the hearing. In September, city regulator Transport for London said Uber wasn’t “fit and proper” because of safety and governance concerns.

The ruling came after a day and a half of arguments in which lawyers for Uber insisted that the San Francisco company had replaced executives in an overhaul of its culture, improved passenger safety policies and reset its testy relationship with the regulator. Transport for London effectively disengaged from the dispute and said its 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.”

More than 3.6 million people regularly use the Uber app in London. The ban had the company at risk of being excluded from its biggest market in Europe at a time when it was already reeling from sexual harassment suits, employment claims and regulatory investigations around the world. It was able to keep operating in London during the appeal.

“Uber has been put on probation — their 15-month license has a clear set of conditions that [Transport for London] will thoroughly monitor and enforce,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement.