Five years of misery ends; Uber loses operators licence in London
After over five years of campaigning, worry and exhaustion; The London taxi trade can start to build again.
Uber have lost their operators licence in London. The American minicab firm has caused an unprecedented amount of damage to both taxi and private hire industries across the capital and UK. From sexual assaults to predatory pricing, Uber have courted controversy since its arrival in London back in 2012. Recent pressure came in the form of freedom of information requests which highlighted deep rooted problems within both Uber and the regulator Transport for London.
Perry Richardson, a taxi driver and founder of TaxiPoint said "Years of hard campaigning has finally ended with a victory. The taxi trade has had to suffer in silence for the majority of the five years that Uber have operated in London. Only in the last six months have people outside of the trade delved deeper into the workings of Uber. It is a massive weight off of the shoulders of all associated to the trade."
Steve Kenton a taxi driver, trade consultant and the UK editor of TaxiPoint said "Until five years ago there had been a grudging acceptance between the taxi industry and the PHV industry that both professions have to co-exist. This shaky peace had been shattered by a company that has played fast and loose with customer safety and both governmental legislation as well as regulatory requirements. Disruptive technology should never be destructive technology, therefore until Uber rectify their myriad of failings within almost every aspect of their framework a license to operate should never be granted."
Michael Murphy, a taxi driver and the Global Editor of TaxiPoint has said "Dreams do come true. Finally justice has been served. Our trade has endured an unprecedented amount of abuse by nothing other than a tech company who seeked to introduce and maintain modern day slavery into our wonderful trade. There were times myself that I thought this nightmare would never end, but here we are, we can all smile and destress for a while. Note I said "for a while" this is because I have no doubt that this decision will be challenged."
More to follow...