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Uber secures right to continue operating in London | Uber secures right to continue operating in London |
(32 minutes later) | |
Uber has secured its right to continue operating in London after a judge upheld its appeal against Transport for London (TfL). | |
The ride-hailing giant will be granted a new licence to work in the capital, nearly a year after TfL rejected its application over safety concerns. | |
It ends uncertainty for the 45,000 drivers who use the taxi app in London. | |
Westminster Magistrates' Court said Uber was now a "fit and proper" operator "despite historical failings". | |
One of the main concerns raised by TfL was a flaw in Uber's system that allowed unauthorised people to upload their photographs to legitimate drivers' accounts, which then allowed them to pick up passengers. | |
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that 24 drivers shared their accounts with 20 others which led to 14,788 rides. | |
Uber's regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, Jamie Heywood, said: "It was not what we would do now. It was inadequate, we could have done better." | |
Deputy chief magistrate Tan Ikram said he took Uber's "track-record of regulation breaches" into account but said it had made efforts to address failings and had improved standards. | |
He will now decide on the length of the new licence and what conditions could be imposed. | |
TfL originally refused to renew Uber's licence in September 2017. The company then won a 15-month licence by a judge in June 2018 after taking the case to court. | |
Uber was granted a two-month licence this time last year, but TfL then rejected the firm's subsequent application based on "several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk". |