Uber(LONDON) — London’s chief magistrate said Tuesday that Uber was “fit and proper” to operate in the city, allowing the ride sharing company to renew its license.
In statement emailed to ABC News, Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber in the United Kingdom, said: “We are pleased with today’s decision. We will continue to work with TFL [Transport for London] to address their concerns and earn their trust, while providing the best possible service for our customers.”
Last fall, Uber’s license was not renewed by the municipal regulator Transport for London. The company faced expulsion from one of its largest European markets.
TFL took issue with the way Uber handled criminal offenses committed by its drivers and the manner in which some of their criminal and medical records were presented in order to bypass official checks.
The company has gone to great lengths to make significant changes and acknowledge its mistakes, which appears to have been enough to overturn the TFL decision.
The company said those new changes included:
- A range of free insurance coverage for independent drivers and couriers across Europe, including sickness, injury and maternity and paternity payments.
- Placing limits on drivers’ hours, which Saltzman said was a first in the UK private hire industry.
- New driver advisory groups to formalize how the company listens to and responds to feedback in every city where Uber operates.
- Changes to cross-border driving so that drivers can only use the app in the region where they are licensed.
- 24/7 telephone support for passengers and drivers.
- Proactive reporting of serious incidents to the Metropolitan Police.
- Changes to the Uber app in London to confirm to riders that their Uber London driver has been licensed by TFL.
- The appointment of three independent non-executive directors to the company’s UK boards.
Uber has had problems with its licenses in a number of other British cities, but London is its largest target market in Europe. The license has been granted for a 15-month period with a number of conditions set to follow.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.