Uber is losing its private hire licence to operate in London

Uber will now not be issued a private hire licence to operate in the capital, Transport for London (TfL) has stated.

The company has been said to have a ‘lack of corporate responsibility’ and therefore stripped of its licence. The increasing importance of technology in big UK cities has meant having to improve such corporate culture amongst innovators in a matter of public interest, according to World Wide Technology.

Ben Boswell, EMEA director at World Wide Technology, commented: “The complexity involved in many smart city projects, some of them using vast amounts of data and impacting thousands of lives, means that technology providers must be held to high standards.

“What we’ve seen with Uber is the unravelling of a company that is based on a toxic culture. Diversity, inclusion and corporate responsibility need to underpin technology innovations. The potential that technology holds for the good of our cities is tremendous…

“As an industry we need to do more to tackle cultural issues in corporate culture so that consumers’ access to innovation is not restricted like this again.”

Uber has said it will appeal against the decision, showing the world as “far from being open, London is closed to innovative companies.” Around 3.5m passengers and 40k drivers use this service in the capital, and there had been growing speculation that the app would be banned from being used there.

Although some agree this is the right choice, others have went against the news. Mark Wright, winner of The Apprentice Series 10 with the creation of digital marketing agency, Climb Online, commented: “The Uber business model is a true example of digital innovation.

“In less than a decade it has completely transformed how individuals perceive taxis - with the name ‘Uber’, for many, representing the service as a whole. Remember, the firm is the UK’s biggest taxi provider…

“Although many may agree to remove [this] licence due to personnel and other such issues, I for one think this is a mistake.”

In a statement, Uber said: “Transport for London and the Mayor have caved in to a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice” while the business’ general manager Tom Elvidge commented: “To defend the livelihoods of all those drivers, and the consumer choice of millions of Londoners who use our app, we intend to immediately challenge this in the courts.

He continued that Uber has operated in more than 600 cities across the world, including over 40 UK areas. However opponents have claimed the company does not do enough to regulate its driver, and TfL’s concerns include Uber’s approach to carrying out background checks on drivers and reporting serious criminal offences.