Sadiq Khan tells Londoners 'direct your anger at Uber' as 500k back calls for ban to be reversed

Fiona Simpson23 September 2017

Sadiq Khan has urged 500k people who signed a petition calling on Transport for London to reverse a ban on Uber in the capital to direct their anger at the firm.

The Mayor of London accused the company of “letting customers and drivers down” amid furious backlash over the decision to strip Uber of its licence.

TfL announced the shock decision not to renew the taxi-hailing app company’s licence in the capital on Friday.

The transport body ruled that Uber was “not fit and proper” to hold a private hire licence and had shown a “lack of corporate responsibility” in relation to public safety.

The firm immediately announced plans to appeal the decision and set up an online petition calling for support from their 3.5 million customers in London.

Referring to Mr Khan’s “London is open” slogan, the petition read: “This ban shows the world that London is far from being open and is closed to innovative companies, who bring choice to consumers and work opportunities to those who need them.”

Some 500k people signed the petition in just 24-hours.

In a fresh statement, released after it became the fastest growing this year, Mr Khan said: "I have every sympathy with Uber drivers and customers affected by this decision but their anger really should be directed at Uber.”

“They have let down their drivers and customers by failing, in the view of TfL, to act as a fit and proper operator.

"I suspect it will take some time before this situation with Uber fully plays out,” the mayor added.

Uber’s licence expires on Saturday, September 30 from which date the firm will have 21 days to appeal.

TfL said on Friday that the app will remain active in London until the “appeal process is exhausted”.

In Friday’s ruling, TfL raised concerns over Uber’s approach to reporting serious criminal offences and how it obtained enhanced criminal records checks for drivers.

Sadiq Khan announced the decision on Friday
Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

It flagged up Uber’s approach to how medical certificates were obtained - for example drivers using an online GP service via video rather than having a check in person as the regulations insist.

The transport body also queried Uber’s use of Greyball software, which could be used to block regulators’ access to the app.

Responding to the petition Fred Jones, Uber's UK head of cities, told the BBC: "I think people realise that this decision by the Mayor and Transport for London is actually because they have caved to pressure from a small number of individuals and groups that want to protect the status quo and reduce consumer choice and competition from London.

"We are a very large operator in London, we've been operating in London for five and half years and are regulated by TfL.

"Obviously during that period TfL have regularly audited us. They've carried out the largest audit in their history and we passed with flying colours.

"The last time they audited us to check we were playing by the rules, they found that there were zero errors in our processes.

"This was one of the strange things around the TfL notice yesterday is they are the ones who do all of the checks and license the drivers.

"They are the ones that decide whether an individual is fit and proper to transport members of the public around the capital.

"When a driver signs up to the app, we make sure they've got all the correct paperwork from Transport for London but we don't do background checks ourselves."

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