London Assembly Member says the way Uber is regulated doesn't keep pace with aggressive business

Image credit: TaxiPoint

London Assembly Member, and Councillor for Highbury East Ward, Islington, Caroline Russell, has said the way Uber is licensed and regulated doesn't keep pace with aggressive business practices.

The comment comes as a judge this week concluded that the ride-hailing app was a 'fit-and-proper-person' to hold an operator's licence in the capital.

Uber's appeal against Transport for London's (TfL) decision to deny them a licence to operate in London turned out to be a successful one for the controversial big-hitters from across the pond.

Following the decision on Monday 28 September, a number of high profile figures have had their say. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has stressed that TfL will continue to "closely monitor" Uber and take swift action if they are found to be in breach of their licensing regulations again.

But with no real change in the way big money firms such as Uber are regulated, such licensing methods are open to criticism.

Caroline Russell said via her official Twitter account: "The way Uber is licensed and regulated doesn't keep pace with the way venture capital and aggressive business practices distort the private hire and taxi trades in London.

"TfL needs the power to control the numbers of PHVs in London and drivers need protection from exploitation."

Currently Transport for London must issue private hire driver licences to anyone who meets the required criteria, meaning there is no cap on the amount of private hire drivers that work in the capital.

This has been a hot topic in the industry for years now, with calls for a cap to be put in place. TfL has stressed that such a cap is out of their hands and is solely reliant on central government to implement such a change to licensing laws.