Last Friday, London told Uber it is unfit to run a taxi service and that it will be stripped of its licence at the end of this week… Uber is appealing the decision.

UBER HAS BEEN told by London authorities that it is unfit to run a taxi service. According to Transport for London (TfL), which will not renew the US company’s taxi licence when it expires on September 30. However, Uber has said it will appeal with TfL saying it would allow the company to trade until its appeal was heard.

TfL said that Uber’s approach and conduct wasn’t fit to hold a proper private vehicle licence. “TfL considers that Uber’s approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications. These include:

• Its approach to reporting serious criminal offences.
• Its approach to how medical certificates are obtained.
• Its approach to how Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are obtained.
• Its approach to explaining the use of Greyball in London – software that could be used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app and prevent officials from undertaking regulatory or law enforcement duties.”

Uber claims there are 40,000 drivers working for Uber in London with more than 3 million Londoners using the app.

The decision to ban Uber has seen politicians in the UK trading blows, with the Minister for London, Greg Hands tweeting “At the flick of a pen, Sadiq Kahn [mayor of London] is threatening to put 40,000 people out of work…”

Kahn responded, “All private –hire car operators in London need to play by the rules. The safety and security of customers must be paramount”.

Question: Do you think Uber should be banned?