Uber has won an appeal against a decision not to renew its licence by Transport for London (TfL).
TfL initially blocked the renewal due to safety issues.
Uber was found to be a ‘fit and proper’ operator in London, said Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram, and allowed an extension of 18 months with various conditions.
Among them, it has to provide independent reports to regulators.
In banning Uber TfL said it had identified several serious breaches, involving insurance-related issues.
One involved a change to Uber’s systems that allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other legitimate driver accounts.
This let them pick up passengers as though they were the booked Uber driver on at least 14,000 trips, which meant all those journeys were uninsured, TfL said.
"Uber doesn’t have a perfect record but it has an improving picture. I am satisfied that they are doing what a reasonable business in their sector could be expected to do, perhaps even more," Ikram said.
Uber has about 45,000 drivers in London.
The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) slammed the ruling as ‘a disaster for London.’
"I can assure Londoners that TfL will continue to closely monitor Uber and will not hesitate to take swift action should they fail to meet the strict standards required to protect passengers," London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor
