The authority of transport for London (TfL) withdrew on Friday its license to Uber, which counts more than 40,000 drivers in the british capital. Result, the u.s. specialist transport vehicles with driver (VTC) will not have the right to practise in London from the 30th of September.
“TfL believes that the approach and the attitude of Uber demonstrate a lack of responsibility of the company in regards to a number of aspects with possible implications in terms of public safety,” said the authority.
Uber is criticized in London, its first european market, by the trade unions, parliamentarians, and the taxi drivers traditional for the working conditions of its drivers. In the wake of this decision, the company announced that it would appeal the decision. This call allows him to continue to operate until the justice shall give a ruling on the subject.
“The 3.5 million Londoners using our application and more than 40,000 approved driver who rely on Uber for a living are going to be dismayed that while this decision” has blasted the head of the company in London, Tom Elvidge, in a press release scathing. “By seeking to prohibit our application in the capital, Transport for London and the mayor have given in to the calls of a small number of persons who want to limit the choices of the clients. If this decision is upheld, more than 40,000 drivers will be unemployed and Londoners will be deprived of a means of transportation practical and affordable.”
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for his part, said his “total support” to the decision of TfL. “It would be a mistake on the part of TfL to continue to provide a license to Uber if it poses any threat to the safety and security of Londoners.”
One more problem for the platform
This decision resoundingly TfL is a problem for Uber, facing already many challenges. The group has recently set up a new CEO, the ex-boss of Expedia, Dara Khosrowshahi, after the departure of his former boss-founder Travis Kalanick. It was on the hot seat for accusations of harassment in the group by an ex-engineer this winter. He is accused of having himself maintained a corporate culture that is sexist and brutal.
The group, which has lost more than $ 600 million in the second quarter, has to face also several judicial investigations into allegations of corruption of foreign officials.
(With agencies)
