Uber Loses License in London

Proficient
Economy & Business
Europe

Vocabulary

renew
Verb
rɪˈnuː
to make a license, contract, etc. valid for a further period of time
They won't let you renew your driver's license if you haven't paid your parking fines.

appeal
Noun
əˈpiːl
a request made to someone in a position of authority
I ignored his appeal for one more chance.

unauthorized
Adjective
ʌnˈɔːθəraɪzd
that has not been officially approved
ID cards are used to prevent unauthorized access to the building.

uspend
Verb
səˈspɛnd
to officially prevent a person from doing something; to cancel or stop something
Billy was suspended from school for a week.

periodically
Adverb
ˌpɪriˈɑːdɪkli
at regular intervals; occasionally
For security reasons, passwords must be changed periodically.
Article

Uber Loses License in London

London's transit authority, Transport for London (TFL), has refused to renew Uber's
operating license due to concerns over passenger safety and security.

Uber has 21 days to appeal, which it said it would do, and it can continue to operate
during the appeal. Uber's license expired at midnight on November 25.

TFL already took away Uber's license once in 2017, but a court later gave the
company a 15-month license, which TFL then extended for two more months in
September this year.

TFL said that one key issue was a change to Uber's systems that allowed
unauthorized drivers to upload their photos to other driver accounts. This let them
pick up passengers by pretending to be the booked Uber driver on at least 14,000
trips.

The change also resulted in some passengers traveling with unlicensed drivers. TFL
also said that Uber had allowed fired or suspended drivers to create new accounts
and carry passengers.

"We cannot be confident that similar issues won't happen again in [the] future," said
TFL's Helen Chapman.

Uber called the decision "extraordinary and wrong," and questioned why TFL had
renewed its license in September but had new concerns two months later.

Uber said it has checked every London driver over the past two months, and will
soon launch a new "facial matching" system that will require drivers to periodically
take selfies to compare with their account photos.

Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities estimates that London represents 3% to 5% of Uber's

business.

Uber is still struggling to make a profit. It lost $1.16 billion in the most recent
quarter, and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said it wouldn't make a profit until 2021.

Shares fell 1.5% in New York on news of the lost London license.