London
Uber will defend its
right to operate in London in a court hearing on Monday after the app
was deemed unfit to run a taxi service and stripped of its licence in its most important European market.
Regulator
Transport for London (TfL) shocked the Silicon Valley firm by rejecting
its licence renewal bid in September, citing its approach to reporting
serious criminal offences and background checks on drivers.
Uber’s
40,000 drivers, representing around one in three of all private hire
vehicles on the British capital’s roads, can continue to take passengers
until the appeals process is exhausted, which could take years.
The
legal battle pitches one of the world’s richest cities against a tech
giant known for its forays into new markets around the world that have
prompted bans, restrictions and protests, including by drivers of
London’s famous black cabs.
Administrative hearing
Uber’s lawyers will begin their appeal at Westminster
Magistrates’ Court on Monday, in what is expected to be a largely
administrative hearing designed to set a date for a fuller hearing next
year.
Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi has apologized
to Londoners and met TfL Commissioner Mike Brown in October for what
both sides described as constructive talks.
Brown told Reuters in November that “there are some discussions going on to make sure they are compliant.”
Legal wrangling
Months
of legal wrangling are likely unless the Silicon Valley app, valued at
around $70 billion with investors including Goldman Sachs, can come to a
new arrangement with the regulator.
“We continue
having constructive discussions with Transport for London in order to
resolve this,” an Uber spokesman said ahead of the hearing. “As our new
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said, we are determined to make things right.”
Losing
its London licence was just one of many blows to Uber this year as a
stream of executives left amid controversies involving allegations of
sexual harassment and issues surrounding data privacy and business
practices.
In Britain, Uber is looking to appoint a new
boss after Jo Bertram announced her departure less than two weeks after
London’s decision.
It also faces potential problems in
the northern English city of Sheffield where its license has been
suspended and in Brighton, southern England, where local officials
extended the firm’s licence for only six months to give them more time
to consider the outcome of the dispute in London.
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