Shropshire Star

Uber has Sheffield licence suspended

The taxi-hailing app is allowed to continue operating until December 18.

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Uber has had its licence suspended in Sheffield (Laura Dale/PA)

Uber has had its licence suspended in Sheffield.

The move comes after the firm failed to respond to requests for information about its management.

The taxi-hailing app is allowed to continue operating until December 18, and if it chooses to appeal the suspension, it can function until that has been heard.

A Sheffield City spokesman said: “Uber’s licence was suspended last Friday (29 November) after the current licence holder failed to respond to requests, made by our licensing team, about the management of Uber.”

He added: “We received a new application, for a licence to operate taxis in Sheffield, from Uber Britannia Limited, on October 18 2017 which we are currently processing.

“Any new application is dealt with by the Licensing department who will decide if those applying for the licence meet the criteria. It will only be referred to the licensing sub-committee if a decision by the committee is required. The legislation does not allow for the transfer of an operator’s licence.”

Uber said it informed the council in October that it would need to change the name on its licence as the named individual would be leaving the company.

An Uber spokesman said: “The council told us they couldn’t change the name on the licence, as most other councils have done, and that we would instead have to apply for a new one.”

He added: “While we are in regular contact with the council, we did not receive the correspondence the council refers to as they sent the letters to an incorrect address.

“We hope this administrative error can be quickly resolved so we can continue serving tens of thousands of riders and drivers in Sheffield. If the new application can’t be resolved by 18 December we will of course submit an appeal so we can continue to serve people in Sheffield.”

The suspension is the latest blow in what has been a turbulent year for Uber.

In September, Transport for London (TfL) denied Uber’s request for a new licence, saying the firm was “not fit and proper” to operate in the capital.

Mr Kalanick’s replacement as CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, apologised for “the mistakes we’ve made” after the London licence denial and said Uber would appeal “with the knowledge that we must also change”.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled in November that Uber drivers were employees and not freelance contractors, and were therefore entitled to minimum wage and other benefits.

Last month it was revealed that Uber had been the subject of a massive data breach which affected 2.7 million UK users of its app.

Hackers obtained personal details of 57 million customers and drivers worldwide, including people’s names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers.

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