Uber London ban - live updates: Ride hailing app's private hire licence will not be renewed after 30 September
Company says decision 'will put more than 40,000 licensed drivers out of work'
Uber has been banned in London after Transport for London announced it will not be renewing the company's licence to operate in the city.
The move has dealt a huge blow to the ride hailing app, which has tens of thousands of UK-based drivers and a huge customer base.
The transport authority said that Uber didn't meet its rigorous reglation standards to ensure passenger safety.
But the ruling allows the opportunity for an appeal, and makes clear that Uber will be able to continue to operate while that process is ongoing.
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The TaxPayers' Alliance, a British pressure group campaigning for a low tax society, has condemned TfL's decision. Alex Wild, research director, says: "TfL has once again caved into pressure from unions who wreak havoc with their endless strikes and never miss an opportunity to rip-off passengers.
“This announcement is terrible news for those who rely on the service for transport and a living, but what’s especially galling is the 7 figure annual subsidy TfL provides to militant unions like the RMT who will be celebrating their latest victory over ordinary Londoners tonight.
“City Hall must look urgently at this issue and scale back the 700-strong army of union representatives TfL employs."
Journalist and former Channel 4 News Economics Editor Paul Mason has a rather different take:
A petition to save Uber has already been launched. And the company is encouraging its customers to sign it.
For many millennial Londoners, life without Uber is "impossible to imagine".
Here's Douglas Robertson on how "banning Uber means taking London away from broke millennials like me and putting it back into the hands of the rich".
All the countries and cities that have already banned Uber.
A journalist for right-leaning outlet Guido Fawkes claims Uber only found out about the decision a minute before TfL announced the news on Twitter.
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