Uber London Can Now Resume Operations as Court Grants Probationary License

Uber’s London-based operations can now resume after the Westminster Magistrates' Court granted its petition and gave it a probationary license on Tuesday.

In a decision penned by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, it was declared that Uber is granted a 15-month probationary license to continue its operations in London. The court decision slightly diminished Uber’s original request for an 18-month permit.

It can be recalled that the Transportation for London (TfL) office refused to renew Uber’s permit to operate in the city after its expiration in September 2017. At the time, the transportation agency argued that Uber was “not fit and proper” for a private hire operator license.

TfL cited that Uber needed to improve its approach to reported criminal incidents related to its services and how it obtained medical certificates of its driver partners, among other concerns. Uber then filed a petition to the Westminster Magistrates' Court the following month.

In its original petition, Uber maintained that it was in the right shape to operate as a private hire car service in London. But, notably, the court decision paper indicated that Uber admitted TfL’s refusal to renew its license last year “was fully justified."

Uber’s 15-month probationary license means there are conditions that it has to strictly comply with and that it will be closely monitored, especially by the TfL.

For one, the company made a promise to improve how it handles the reporting of criminal incidents allegedly perpetrated by their drivers.

Before the revocation of its London operations permit, Uber refrained from reporting criminal incidents to the police, arguing that it wanted to protect the identity and privacy of its customers. So it used to have a policy of waiting for the aggrieved customer to be the first one to report a case.

The court decision noted that Uber, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, now has “a new system in place which supports the reporting of serious offenses.”

The Westminster Magistrates' Court also ruled that Uber must compensate TfL for the legal costs that the agency spent for these proceedings, which, according to BBC, amounted to 425,000 pounds or over $560,000.