Uber facing London ban

Uber is facing a complete ban in London after a ruling that it is not fit to operate on safety and security grounds.

For the second time in just over two years, Transport for London (TfL) said Uber was guilty of a "pattern of failures" that led to unauthorised drivers uploading their photos to the accounts of authorised Uber drivers.

This, says the British transport regulator, led directly to 14,000 unlawful trips in which unvetted drivers picked up passengers using the ride-sharing app.

Already facing similar bans in several countries, Uber said it would appeal the decision that could see the Silicon Valley tech company banned from operating in London within three weeks.

"TfL has identified a pattern of failures by the company including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk," the London regulator stated.

"Despite addressing some of these issues, TfL does not have confidence that similar issues will not reoccur in the future, which has led it to conclude that the company is not fit and proper at this time."

Uber's battle with TfL first began back in 2017 when the local government authority rejected a request to renew the ride-sharing firm's license because it failed to carry out driver background checks and due the company's poor approach to reported serious criminal offenses involving its drivers.

Back in 2018 a judge threw Uber a lifeline by granting a 15-month license but only on probation while Uber implemented changes designed to improve safety and security.

A further two-month license extension was then granted in September, while further conditions were imposed involving increased driver document checks and more appropriate insurance was introduced.

Ahead of the latest TfL decision Uber publicly announced that it would introduce yet more new measures including a discrimination button on the app for drivers and riders.

The US-based tech giant said safety training and a direct connection between its drivers and emergency services would also be introduced.

"Over the last two months we have audited every driver in London," said Uber's boss in Northern and Eastern Europe Jamie Heywood. "We have robust systems and checks in place to confirm the identity of drivers and will soon be introducing a new facial matching process, which we believe is a first in London taxi and private hire."