Uber is in trouble once again. However, this is happening far away from the US as the ride-hailing company has been denied a renewal of their license in London. At the moment, London is the largest market in Europe for the company. A London spokesman said that the company had been denied a license renewal because they disregarded local rules and at the same time had a history of scandals. This decision has far-reaching consequences in the United Kingdom. The branch that oversees taxicabs, buses and subways in London known as Transport for London issued a statement saying that Uber was insufficient at the moment. They also added that Uber is not proper and fit as of now. However, the ride-hailing company is expected to appeal this decision. What remains unclear is whether other cities around the globe will start a crackdown on Uber. In the past, Uber has been forced to leave major markets due to various issues. Some of these markets include Austin, Texas and Delhi, India. In China, Uber left voluntary after they decided to sell their business to a competitor known as Didi Chuxing. London is the first significant market that the company has been forced to leave.
This set back presents a major challenge for Dara Khosrowshahi who is the new Uber chief executive. He succeeded Travis Kalanick last month after he was kicked out of the board by Benchmark. Uber has a number of controversies that are affecting its reputation around the globe. For instance, the company has been accused of doing insufficient background checks on drivers. At the same time, Uber has been accused of an aggressive culture at the workplace that’s also unrestrained. Uber has also been accused of developing software that spied on a competitor in the US. Finally, there is an accusation that Uber has used software to evade detection from authorities in the jurisdiction they operate in. Following the decision in London, the new chief executive officer wrote a letter to employees saying that the decision was unfair. He also expressed his concern that the reputation of the company had been tarnished. At the same time, he emphasized on the need for integrity in their operations, and most importantly, mastering the art of being better partners to cities in the future. In a recent statement, Uber mentioned that it had a base of close to 3.5 million customers in London that were being serviced by over 40,000 drivers.
