Uber is going to Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, June 25 to save its London license after being ruled unfit to run a taxi service in the city. The TfL, Regulator Transport for London refused to renew the license saying that the firm failed to pose a convincing appearance regarding criminal offenses and drivers’ background checks.
The appeal involves Uber looking for a renewed license of 18 months, within which it will prove its reformed business model for London. Its application for a five-year license was rejected last September by TfL.
In the context of the Reformation, Uber has always kept a critical but progressive approach surpassing traditional systems, and has likewise gone through protests, bans, and restrictions in various markets globally. Since losing its license in London, the company brought new conveniences and even changed its management, apologizing for mistakes.
Echoing the same, Tom Elvidge in last month accepted wrongdoings and promised to move on in a ‘new direction.’ He is the UK General Manager for Uber and will be providing evidence in court. This appeal will be heard over three days, with witnesses that include executives from Uber, TfL, and the UK.
Emma Arbuthnot is the judge and she may take weeks for preparing her decision, and then it might eventually turn out to be just another legal process going on for years. Uber will be able to operate in London during this time.
The company has 40,000 drivers for providing its service in London, and that’s out of the 50,000 drivers it has in entire Great Britain.
More interestingly, it has gained new licenses in four other cities: Leicester, Cambridge, Sheffield, and Nottingham. But it has lost licenses in Brighton and York, alongside London, and is already appealing for Brighton.
