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Uber to Lose its License to Operate in London

posted by martyb on Saturday September 23 2017, @11:14PM   
from the license?-we-don't-need-no-stinkin'-license! dept.

takyon writes:

Uber will lose its license to operate inside London. The issue may be only a temporary setback since the license expires on September 30th and Uber can continue to operate in London while appealing the decision:

London's transportation agency dealt a major blow to Uber on Friday, declining to renew the ride-hailing service's license to operate in its largest European market. [...] "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," the agency, Transport for London, said in a statement.

[...] In issuing its decision, Transport for London, which is responsible for the city's subways and buses as well as regulating its taxicabs, declared that Uber was not "fit and proper" to operate in the city — a designation that carries significant weight in Britain. "Fit and proper" is a benchmark applied across different sectors of business and the charitable organizations in the country to ensure that people or organizations meet the requirements of their industry or specialty. Tests typically assess factors like an individual or company's honesty, transparency and competence, though there is no formal exam. In Uber's case, Transport for London said it examined issues of how it dealt with serious criminal offenses, how it conducted background checks on drivers and its justification for a software program called Greyball that "could be used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app."

Opinion: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

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Original Submission

• Re:Blackball app in 3...2...1...Re:Blackball app in 3...2...1... (Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday September 25 2017, @12:10PM (1 child)

  by zocalo (302) on Monday September 25 2017, @12:10PM (#572621)

  I'd heard of that, and have no idea if that applies to the UK either, but should Uber lose its license in London post-appeal then I would expect the onus to be on Uber to make suitable arrangements for drivers to opt out of any such deals. Unless Uber is prepared to do a blanket buy-out and termination of the leases (unlikely), then they would probably need to provide some form of opt-in system for their ex-drivers in the scheme to continue with it, but releasing them from the now defunct Uber lock-in clauses - or no one is going to want to opt-in (assuming they haven't already worked out the deal sucks, that is). Hopefully there's some statutory EU regulation in place that means Uber picks up any additional costs in that case, given it's ultimately Uber's responsibility that the drivers would have been put into that situation.

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  UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!

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• Re:Blackball app in 3...2...1...(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday September 25 2017, @12:47PM

  by TheRaven (270) on Monday September 25 2017, @12:47PM (#572632) Journal

  The problem is that the leases didn't actually come from Uber, they came from a company that does car loans. Uber just got a sales commission on each one. Uber therefore has no legal liability (unless you can prove that it was knowingly misrepresented, which is probably was but that's unrelated to this situation). The company providing the leases similarly doesn't have any obvious liability because they're providing leases to buy a car for private use, but with a special exemption that you can use it commercially, but only if you drive for Uber.

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  sudo mod me up

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