Uber has won its appeal against having its licence to operate withdrawn in London.
In today’s judgement the court decided it was satisfied with process improvements made by the ride-hailing company, including around its communication with the city’s transport regulator.
However it’s still not clear how long Uber will be granted a licence for — with the judge wanting to hear more evidence before taking a decision.
We’ve reached out to Uber and TfL for comment.
The ride-sharing giant has faced a multi-year battle to have its licence reinstated after TfL, the city’s transport regulator, took the shock decision not to issue a renewal in 2017 — citing safety concerns and deeming the company not “fit and proper” to hold a private hire operator licence.
It won a provisional appeal back in 2018 — when a UK court granted it a 15-month licence to give it time to continue working on meeting TfL’s requirements. However last November the regulator once again denied a full licence renewal — raising a range of new safety issues.
Despite that Uber has been able to continue operating in London throughout the legal process — but with ongoing uncertainty over the future of its licence. Now it will be hoping this is in the past.
In the appeal, Uber’s key argument was it is now “fit and proper” to hold a licence — claiming it’s listened to the regulator’s concerns and learnt from errors, making major changes to address issues related to passenger safety.
For example Uber pointed to improvements in its governance and document review systems, including a freeze on drivers who had not taken a trip for an extended period; real-time driver ID verification; and new scrutiny teams and processes; as well as the launch of ‘Programme Zero’ — which aims to prevent all breaches of licence conditions.
It also argued system flaws were not widespread — claiming only 24 of the 45,000 drivers using the app had exploited its system to its knowledge.
It also argued it now cooperates effectively and proactively with TfL and police forces, denying it conceals any failures. Furthermore, it claimed denying its licence would have a “profound effect” on groups at risk of street harassment — such as women and ethnic minorities, as well as disabled people.
It’s certainly fair to say the Uber of 2020 has travelled some distance from the company whose toxic internal culture included developing proprietary software to try to thwart regulatory oversight and eventually led to a major change of guard of its senior management.
However it’s interesting the court has taken the step of choosing to debate what length of licence Uber should receive. So while it’s a win for Uber, there are still some watchful caveats.
Offering commentary on today’s ruling, Anna McCaffrey, a senior counsel for the law firm Taylor Wessing, highlighted this element of the judgement. “The Magistrates Court agreed that Uber had made improvements and addressed TfL safety concerns. However, the fact that the length of extension is up for debate, rather than securing Uber’s preferred five year licence, demonstrates that Uber will have to work hard to continue to prove to TfL and the Court that it has really changed. If not, Uber is likely to find itself back in Court facing the same battle next year,” she noted in a statement.
She also pointed out that a decision is still pending from the Supreme Court to “finally settle” the question as to whether Uber’s drivers are workers or self-employed — another long-running legal saga for Uber in the UK.
It is also now facing fresh legal challenges related to its algorithmic management of drivers. So there’s still plenty of work for its lawyers.
