Uber London shocked to lose license to operate
Michael Spencer
A.I. Writer, researcher and curator - full-time Newsletter publication manager.
More bad news for the Uber brand, The Uber ban is a disaster for London, read on.
For Uber, 2017 has been challenging already, is its karma catching up with it? The capital's transport regular, Transport for London (TfL), has said Uber has lost its license to operate in London.
Drivers are not only facing unemployment but significant debt associated with it and while Uber will challenge the decision in court, it remains to be seen.
According to the BBC, the decision could impact some 3.5 million passengers and 40,000 drivers who use the Uber app in London.
Uber's Lack of Corporate Responsibility
The regulator is not happy with Uber's approach and conduct in what amounts to a failure in corporate responsibility on multiple levels including:
- Failure in public safety and security, specifically:
- It's approach to background checks to ensure workers don't have a criminal record.
- The "Greyball" software in London used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app
- Its approach to reporting serious criminal offences
- Its approach to how medical certificates are obtained
This amounts to a grave blow to Uber, as traction in London is considered high. However, the decision isn't immediate and Uber can continue to operate until any appeal processes have been exhausted.
Yet the tone is one of blaming London, instead of taking responsibility:
Uber operates in more than 600 cities around the world, including more than 40 towns and cities here in the UK. This ban would show the world that, far from being open, London is closed to innovative companies who bring choice to consumers. - Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber in London
Uber has been a model of "disruption-arrogance" and illegal corner-cutting tactics
Far from being just a pioneer of disruption, Uber has and remains the target of on-going multiple legal investigations into its activities including illegal software, claims of corporate theft of trade secrets and an internal culture that exploded in controversy in 2017 with allegations of sexism and sexual harassment.
Uber doesn't have a history of taking responsibility
Without pointing fingers, it's important that tech firms take responsibility. We should admit this from the outset: this impending ban on Uber in London, is Uber's own fault and failure to be an ethical company. If profit is put ahead of public safety and regulatory control ("bulldozing"), how can we trust companies like Uber again? Uber doesn't just represent Uber, it represents American tech, and it's reputation is harming the American brand itself.
- This is still bad for London but Uber's leadership is at fault
- Uber's failure to report sexual assaults by drivers is well documented
- Its failure to add tipping to the app until just a few weeks ago
- It's failure to guarantee drivers at least minimum wage
However, all companies in London must play by the rules and adhere to the high standards we expect – particularly when it comes to the safety of customers. Providing an innovative service must not be at the expense of customer safety and security. - London’s mayor Sadiq Khan
The decision by Transport for London (TfL) to pull Uber's licence amounts to yet another wake-up call that no matter how much money you have or no matter how much your Unicorn is supposedly worth, you still have to play by the rules.
Should cities hold Uber accountable and will more cities follow London's decision?
React to this in a comment below ??
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7 年Regardless of the validity of the TfL claims against Uber how did they allow a scenario to play out that could and did result in their license being revoked? I use Uber a lot and have never had a problem but I do find it baffling that Uber appear to have failed in mitigating the risk of TfL revoking their license. Uber's public reaction to the news seems to be one of shock and surprise. Really? Didn't see it coming? The Uber customer experience is popular and innovative but it's not sustainable if the company chooses to ignore that great big elephant in the boardroom. That's part of their responsibility to customers. Counter claims about the validity of driver background checks and crime reporting policy are now flying to and fro but all a little late isn't it? Crying foul after the event rather than mitigating the risk....arrogance or incompetence?
Freelance Technical Writer
7 年Uber could do things better, but so could this vague article. There is very little in the way of citation of the issue, and the tone seems to be mostly "Uber is bad because they make a lot of money, they don't bow to an overly intrusive government, and they are American." There is no citation of the percentage of problem drivers versus good drivers. No ratio of positive incidents to negative. Basically, there are very few tangible facts, just rumor and hyperbole. There is no mention of the fact that Uber pays its drivers at a higher rate than Lyft, or many of the other positives that Uber has. Uber needs to work on a lot of things, but this article seems to relish in Uber's woes because Uber apparently isn't nice. This is childish and irresponsible writing at best.
Uber doesn't admit defeat, it's a hyper masculine brand, the CEO guy said he's die for the brand in a nutshell. Mind you, he's getting a hefty raise to do it.
Pay attention to the needs of your network, and you can be a broker of anything! Executive search, supply chain, and sales. Bridging the gap between VN-US.
7 年Daniel Rein
Technology Executive | CEO, CTO, COO | Certified Chair
7 年solely challenging an outdated status quo does not necessarily mean a sustainable business model... a platform business has to add and share value equally