Transport for London (TfL) has issued Uber London with just a two-month private hire operator licence.
The ride-hailing company’s previous 15-month licence – awarded by a court on appeal after TfL originally decided not to grant one - expires tonight (25 September).
Two years ago, TfL declared that Uber was not ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence – before the court intervened. At the time, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi admitted the company was ‘far from perfect’.
TfL now says it will be req
September 25, 2019
Read time: 2 mins
1466 Transport for London (TfL) has issued Uber London with just a two-month private hire operator licence.
The ride-hailing company’s previous 15-month licence – awarded by a %$Linker: 2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external courtfalsehttps://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/uber-granted-15-month-trial-to-operate-in-london/?__utma=90924956.1869851934.1534854633.1569326723.1569330357.635&__utmb=90924956.12.9.1569332147858&__utmc=90924956&__utmx=-&__utmz=90924956.1564666132.552.12.utmcsr=Adestra|utmccn=(not%20set)|utmcmd=email&__utmv=-&__utmk=30922423falsefalse%> on appeal after TfL originally decided not to grant one - expires tonight (25 September).
Two years ago, TfL declared that Uber was not ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence – before the court intervened. At the time, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi admitted the company was ‘far from perfect’.
TfL now says it will be requesting additional information from Uber “to help inform any future licensing decision” and insists its original decision not to give Uber a licence “led to the app-based firm improving its culture and governance”.
“Uber London Limited has been granted a two-month private hire operator licence to allow for scrutiny of additional information that we are requesting ahead of consideration of any potential further licensing application,” says a TfL spokesperson.
The two-month licence comes with new conditions “to ensure passenger safety”, TfL says. “These new conditions cover ride-sharing, appropriate insurance and driver document checks by Uber.”
The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) is to deploy 15 electric buses in Guwahati, a city in north-east India.
The project is part of the Indian government’s FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) scheme.
A report by Business Standard says each bus will carry up to 31 passengers along a 6.4km route between the neighbourhoods of Kachari and Kamakhya.
ASTC will operate a second service along a 38km route from the Inter State Bus Terminal while also running another service in
Drivers who ply their trade on apps such as Uber could be under greater scrutiny as part of proposals being put forward by the UK government.
The potential risk to passengers from the explosion of ride-hailing apps, as private-hire drivers are perceived to receive less thorough vetting – for example, to flag up past convictions – has long been argued.
Incidents such as the murders of passengers by a Didi driver in China heightened such concerns - although critics point out that a US Uber driver who ad