London, one of the most populated cities in the United Kingdom, has finally reached its decision about Uber Technologies Inc.—an American multinational ride-sharing company.
On Monday, the Transport for London—which regulates public vehicles in the city—had decided not to renew Uber's license to operate. This is due to the result of their investigation after finding out that there were 14,000 unauthorized Uber drivers in London.
Additionally, the main breach that TfL cited on Uber's 'unsafe' standards is the drivers that upload their own pictures with a different account and name. This means that most of the time, Uber clients have a different driver that is not legitimately listed on the Uber app.
With this observation, TfL announced the sad news for Uber and said that they are not 'fit and proper' to handle license to operate in the city.
"While we recognize Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured," Helen Chapman, TfL's director of licensing, regulation and charging, said in a statement.
Uber Wants to Appeal the Decision of TfL
As usual, Uber demands an appeal after TfL announced their decision. According to Jamie Heywood, Uber's regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, they respect the decision of TfL to stop their services due to security reasons. However, he also believes that the total ban for their services is too much, especially for their local users. Heywood also explained that Uber has been doing their security protocols to ensure the safety of its passengers. Uber even said that they already reported the said 'unauthorized' drivers to TfL as they described them as "drivers abusing their application."
"We have robust systems and checks in place to confirm the identity of drivers and will soon be introducing a new facial matching process, which we believe is a first in London taxi and private hire," Heywood said.
As of now, an estimated 45,000 Uber drivers will be affected by the said ban in London. This city is one of the top five markets of Uber around the world.
Uber has been Warned
Unfortunately, London has always been reminding Uber of its lack of security measures. In 2017, the same incident happened. London did not renew Uber's license to operate but gave them another chance through extending their licenses twice, wherein the last extension was given in September.
Taking considerations to Uber, they adjusted their security protocols at the time after the said violations; however, this is not enough for Transport for London.
What About All Over the World?
London is not the only city in the world that banned the said transport service company. As a matter of fact, countries like China, Australia, and Taiwan had banned Uber nationwide. These countries stopped its support for the ride-sharing app with different issues accused against the company.
Whether on legalities or security measures, critics said that Uber must take London as a remembrance to enhance and have stricter security protocols on each of their services.
