London's local regulator, Transport for London's (TfL) decision to revoke Uber's private hire operator license sent shockwaves among the residents of the city yesterday. Considering the fact that the company will no longer be able to offer the service in London from October 1, Uber users in London have made their voices heard by signing an Online Petition created by the American Company. At the latest count, the petition has gathered 500,000 signatures and it is quite likely that the figure is only going to rise.
Uber rallies support
London is one of the most important and lucrative markets for Uber, which is why the company had stated yesterday that they would be challenging TfL's decision in the courts.
However, it seems that the San Francisco based start-up realizes that it needs to rally public support from London residents in order to build a stronger case and hence they created a petition that has asked the authorities to halt the ban order.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the petition published on the website Change.org is addressed to the Mayor Of London Sadiq Khan and asks him to overturn the decision taken by TfL. The company has included the petition in its app and has already gathered 500,000 signatures. The company has targeted a total of 1 million signatures and it seems that they are well on their way to exceeding the target. Needless, it is a clear indication that a large number of Londoners are in favor of the company.
Khan's response
The overwhelming response to the petition from the members of the public forced the Mayor of London to respond. In the petition, Uber had pointed out that its service is used by 3.5 million people in the city and in addition to that, 40,000 drivers make a living through the company. In light of those declarations, Khan stated that although he remains a supporter of innovative enterprises, safety and security of the citizens is of utmost priority.
Mr. Khan said, “I have every sympathy with Uber drivers and customers affected by this decision but their anger really should be directed at Uber. They have let down their drivers and customers by failing, in the view of TfL, to act as a fit and proper operator.” Uber has used such petitions in the past and successfully overturned regulatory decisions by driving public opinion. Two years ago, the company ran such campaigns to overturn such decisions in New York and most notably in London. Time will tell if they are going to be successful this time around.
