Uber share price slides to near-record low after losing London licence

Uber saw its share price fall 3% to $28.66 in pre-market trading – nearing a record low – after its London licence was stripped by Transport for London (TfL).

TfL refused to renew the ridesharing company’s private hire operator’s licence after it found that more than 14,000 trips were taken by drivers that had faked their identity on the Uber app.

The transport authority said that while Uber has made a number of positive changes and improvements to how it operates, a ‘pattern of failures’ has put passengers safety at risk.

‘Despite addressing some of these issues, TfL does not have confidence that similar issues will not reoccur in the future, which has led it to conclude that the company is not fit and proper at this time,’ TfL said in a statement on Monday.

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Uber to appeal TfL’s decision

Uber will continue to operate in London due to the ridesharing company looking to appeal the decision by TfL.

TfL has rejected Uber’s licence renewal once before. The firm eventually persuaded judges to award it a 15-month licence to continue operating back in September 2017. The company's management will be hoping that it can convince judges a second time round to renew its licence.

‘While we recognise Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured,’ Helen Chapman, Director of Licensing, Regulation and Charging at TfL said.

'It is clearly concerning that these issues arose, but it is also concerning that we cannot be confident that similar issues won't happen again in future.

‘If they choose to appeal, Uber will have the opportunity to publicly demonstrate to a magistrate whether it has put in place sufficient measures to ensure potential safety risks to passengers are eliminated,’ she added.

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