September 10 2017, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

Cab hailing service Uber may struggle to keep its London operating licence

Uber faces tough new hurdles to keep its London operating licence after the mayor, Sadiq Khan, said its conduct was an issue and concerns mounted at Transport for London (TfL) about its behaviour.

At least three members of the TfL board have demanded that Uber’s licence in London — which expires on September 30 — be cancelled, or renewed only under strict conditions, The Sunday Times has learnt.

In an email to TfL, written last month and leaked by a third party, board member Michael Liebreich raises serious concerns about Uber’s alleged “regulatory evasion”, its safety record for passengers and its “profiling” of passengers.
Liebreich does not say the licence should be cancelled but that his fears should be “appropriately considered”.

A second board member said: “My position is that we shouldn’t renew the licence. I did raise concerns about the way Uber reportedly ‘games’ its application to deceive regulators, also issues around increasing congestion and private hire vehicle numbers.”

Uber is under criminal investigation in America over Greyball, a software tool it used to deny rides to people it suspected of being regulators.

A third board member, Baroness Grey-Thompson, is also understood to have demanded action. Under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998, the London mayor and TfL can impose on an operator “any . . . requirements that may be prescribed”.

Uber said: “Over 3m Londoners regularly use Uber. We want to continue to do so.”