Uber and out: London decision could aid Spanish taxi drivers

THE writing could be on the wall for Uber in Spain following a shock decision in London where Transport for London (Tfl) has refused to renew its private hire licence.

There have been taxi driver’s strikes in major cities in Spain due to the competition caused by the arrival of Uber which has been welcomed by many passengers but hated by registered drivers.

The Tfl indicated that it does not believe that Uber is “fit and proper” and took the step to refuse to renew their licence due to “public safety and security implications”.

Whilst the London division of Uber says that it has 3.5 million customers a year conveyed by 40,000 drivers it has been blamed for increased congestion, failure to police or report sexual offences, not doing proper criminal checks and a rise in collisions.

The company has 21 days to appeal the ban and can continue to operate in the meantime as more than 500,000 users have signed an on-line petition to reverse the decision.