London: Uber Banned For Not Reporting Crimes

The 3.5 million Londoners who use Uber have only until October 21 to use the smartphone app following a ban by Transport for London that is the biggest setback Uber has faced anywhere in the world.

TfL announced today that it would not extend Uber’s operating licence beyond September 30, and the firm’s 40,000 drivers have been given just three more weeks on the road beyond that date to allow the firm to appeal.

Uber provides lifts costing an average of 30% less than black cabs, and it has transformed the ways Londoners move around the city.

Uber immediately said it would appeal against the high-stakes ban, which was based on TfL’s conclusion that the firm threatens public safety by not properly reporting serious crimes or running full background checks on its drivers, with further doubts about the firm’s use of special software to circumvent monitoring of its cars by public officials.

“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,” TfL said.

If its initial appeal fails, the US $70bn firm will almost certainly resort to legal challenges but it faces determined opposition from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, trade unions and the Labour Party as well as the black cabs which have fought Uber since it arrived in London just before the 2012 Olympics.

The Mayor said he fully backed the ban. “It would be wrong if TfL continued to license Uber if there is any way that this could pose a threat to Londoners’ safety and security,” he said. “Any operator of private hire services in London needs to play by the rules.”

Biggest market in Europe

London is Uber’s largest and most profitable market in Europe and it is the most important city to keep the company off its streets, joining Vancouver in Canada and smaller cities such as Darwin in Australia. The app service is available in 600-plus other cities, including more than 40 towns and cities in the UK.

The San Francisco-based company said the ban would damage London’s international standing because it showed the world that “far from being open, London is closed to innovative companies”.

The firm was quickly backed by London First, a business lobbying group which said the ban would make London look like a backward closed shop. David Leam, a spokesman for London First, said the ban “will be seen as a Luddite decision by millions of Londoners and international visitors who use Uber.”

“It will also hit London’s reputation as a global tech hub. London needs to be open to new ideas, businesses and services.”

Chris Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South agreed, saying it was a “shocking misjudgment” by the Mayor and TfL. Fellow Tory Tom Tugendhat called Khan a “luddite” who wanted to “switch off the internet”.

Unions claimed that Uber had consistently exploited its own workers and undermined the conditions of black cab and mini cab drivers. Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, said the ban was a badly-needed warning to all employers in the “gig economy”, which thrives on hiring workers without full-time security and conditions.

“Uber’s fate is entirely of its own making,” she said. “It is perfectly possible to run a taxi company without treating drivers poorly and cutting corners on customer safety. This should be a cautionary tale for gig economy employers. Unions will expose nasty schemes that cheat workers out of basic rights like the minimum wage and holiday pay.

“Firms have a choice. They can either sit down with us and work out a fair deal for workers. Or they can end up in court and over the front pages.”

Tom Elvidge, Uber’s general manager in London, said TfL and the Mayor had “caved in to a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice.”

Drivers out of work

“If this decision stands, it will put more than 40,000 licensed drivers out of work and deprive Londoners of a convenient and affordable form of transport. We have always followed TfL rules on reporting serious incidents and have a dedicated team who work closely with the Metropolitan Police.”

Uber did its background checks with the same methods used for black-cab drivers, he said. “Our pioneering technology has gone further to enhance safety with every trip tracked and recorded by GPS.” He said the software that TfL claims is designed to thwart full monitoring of its services “has never been used or considered in the UK for the purposes cited by TfL.”

Labour MP Wes Streeting, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Taxis, praised the “courageous decision by the Mayor and TfL… to make it clear that no company, however big and powerful, will be allowed to flout our laws and regulations or jeopardise Londoners’ safety without facing serious consequences.”

“Uber has not shown itself to be a fit and proper operator. It stands accused by the police of failing to properly handle serious allegations of rape and sexual assault of passengers. It had to be dragged through the courts to recognise its responsibility to provide even the most basic rights and protections to Uber drivers. Its business model is based on saturating London’s taxi and private hire market to drive its competition off the road.”

by Peter Wilson

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