Uber has been granted a license by the UK court, which had been denied for renewal. The duration of the renewal is 18 months only, however. The judge took the decision after being assured of the improvements made by Uber, especially those relating to its communication with London's transport regulator, TfL.
There are 21 conditions stated in the new license, suggested by both Uber and TfL to the Magistrate.
While the judge still isn't a hundred percent satisfied with Uber's performance, he still believes that the company is doing a ''reasonable business'', as expected.
Uber has been struggling to have its license reinstated for several years ever since TfL announced to the company in 2007 that it would not renew its license, due to safety concerns and considering that Uber was not fit to hold a private hire operator license.
Uber did manage to win a provisional appeal in 2018 after being granted a 15-month license by a U.K. court, while it was given the chance to work on meeting TfL's requirements. Last November, TfL denied a full license renewal to the company once again and highlighted new safety concerns.
Despite the hurdles time and again and the uncertainty of its future operations, Uber has been managing to operate in London.
In the latest appeal, Uber has convinced the authorities that it is now ''fit and proper'' to hold a license, as it has managed to comply with the transport regulator's concerns and brought about changes to improve problems related to passenger safety.
Uber further claims that it has worked to improve its governance and document review systems. The improvements include a freeze on drivers who have not taken a trip for an extended period, real-time driver ID verification, new scrutiny teams, and “Program Zero”, which is aimed at preventing license conditions breaches. Uber also argues that it is effectively and proactively cooperating with TfL as well as police authorities.
The length of the extension of Uber's license is still up for debate, as the company is still expected to work harder to continue proving itself to TfL and the court, and if it fails to do so, then chances are that it would have to once again face the same legal issues.
Apart from the safety concerns, Uber has also been criticized by the Supreme Court of U.K. over the argument that whether its drivers are ''workers'' or ''self-employed''.
