Transport for London explains for why

it revoked Uber's Taxi Licence

Transport for London (TFL), which is responsible for regulating public transport, has issued a detailed document explaining its reasons for revoking Uber’s Taxi Licence.

The lengthy document details safety concerns including lack of notification to TFL from Uber of alleged sexual assaults by Uber drivers on passengers.

Pending the Hearing of an Appeal by Uber against the revocation of the Licence, Uber is operating taxis in London with a temporary licence.

The Report by TFL includes the following specific complaints among others:

1. Uber failed to adequately verify driver’s identity and safeguard the service for passengers.

2. Uber blamed “system or human error” for its failure to promptly notify TFL in relation to seven incidents that led to the Company suspending a driver. (Some of these incidents related to allegations of rape and sexual assault.)

3. TFL said that it had come to the conclusion that Uber was “not fit and proper to hold a new Private Hire Operators Licence”. In a previous Report TFL had said that it had identified some 14,000 Uber trips involving drivers who had not given a correct identity which problem was exacerbated by Uber’s inadequate licence verification process. TFL previously gave an example of one particular driver who had used Uber’s Private Hire Licence App but who had had his licence revoked by TFL when it was revealed that that driver had previously received a caution for distributing indecent images of children.

4. Another serious complaint by TFL was that a number of drivers were driving without insurance and that Uber had inadequate systems in place to check that each driver had valid and adequate insurance. It was also discovered that some Uber drivers were using a software patch enabling them to see passenger destinations which was mainly used by drivers serving airports.

5. The Report also revealed that some drivers were able to hack into Uber’s platform by manipulating their GPS settings when uploading photographs and this allowed those drivers to change photographs or put their photographs on another driver’s account.

6. There was manipulation of software to enable drivers to see a passenger’s destination, the Regulator sees this as a serious breach as it enables drivers to decline to accept a hire if the driver is of the view that the trip would not be sufficiently lucrative for him or her such as a short inexpensive trip in favour of a longer more expensive journey.

There is no indication as to how long it will take for Uber’s appeal against the revocation of its licence to be heard. It could take a number of years and in the meantime Uber is entitled to continue to operate in London.

If you require any further detail or advice, please contact John Reid in O’Rourke Reid
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This document is for information purposes only and does not purport to represent legal advice.  
© O’Rourke Reid 2020