Uber loses license to operate in London
 

Transport for London will not renew due to Uber's "pattern of failures" that placed passenger safety at risk. Uber is appealing and will be allowed to operate during the appeal process.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50544283

Didn't read the link but as I understand it, this is the second time the license has been denied -- they continued operating under appeal then got a 2 month extension in September and now second denial, which the of course will appeal. From there it will go into the Courts so could still be months away from final resolution. But as I have always maintained - I will never use uber in London. Even ID uber screened their drivers, any joe blow with a satnav can be an uber driver making an uneven playing field for real cab drivers who spend years and ££ to qualify.

When I visit my daughter who lives in the Twickenham area, I can have an Uber usually in 5-10 minutes from requesting one on the app. I don’t know how long it would take to get a black cab in that residential area, but I’m not going to pay twice as much and have to wait longer. All the Uber drivers have been very polite, and use clean, well maintained cars, such as the hybrid low emission Prius. I will be sad if Uber doesn’t succeed in getting its license for London renewed.

I was sort of shocked to read that Uber has about 45,000 drivers in London.

Examples cited as evidence of Uber's failures included:

"... a change to Uber's systems which allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other Uber driver accounts.

... there were at least 14,000 fraudulent trips in London in late 2018 and early 2019, TfL said.

The regulator also found dismissed or suspended drivers had been able to create Uber accounts and carry passengers. In one example, a driver was able to continue working for Uber, despite the fact his private hire licence had been revoked after he was cautioned for distributing indecent images of children."

It certainly seems that Uber did not demonstrate an ability to manage their London business competently.

If Uber has safety issues then they should be made to fix them. However, your problem is with the competition.

Let consumers decide what they want. Black cabs are not perfect either. Worboys (black cab driver - premeditated serial rapist) showed that. Part of that problem was that culturally, nobody in the police (or generally) thought a black cab driver could do something like that. Ironic that this trust in Black Cabs was part of the problem considering that Uber today is so untrusted. Back then all the horror stories were from mini-cabs. He was given the benefit of the doubt and his victims were treated very badly when they came forward. That's how sacred black cabs are. Even Boris Johnson's girlfriend, now living in Number 10 publicly came out as a victim of this monster. He had a HUGE number of victims and perpetrated his crimes for a very long time.

Uber is under a lot of scrutiny which puts pressure on it to be safer. That's good for consumers.

You're talking about unfair advantages but Black Cabs are still the only cars that can be hailed on the street. A huge advantage and it's protected by law. I have nothing against Black Cabs but consumers should be allowed to decide if the Knowledge is something they value and want to pay for and overall, which model they favour. There's room for more than one choice.