Uber (Privately-Traded) has had its license suspended by the Sheffield city council, in what the company claims are an “administrative error”.
Uber will still be able to operate in the city until December 18, and if the company appeals the council’s decision, it will be able to continue operating until the appeal is heard. Naturally, Uber will be appealing, the company’s decision based on Uber’s desire to “continue to serve people in Sheffield.”
When the former UK boss Jo Bertram left Uber in October, the company failed to change the name on the license, which is what has led the city council to suspend it.
Uber claims that they informed Sheffield city council on October 5 that they would be changing the name on the license, as the current name was for someone who would be leaving the company.
Sheffield responded that the law doesn’t allow a license to be transferred to a different name, but Uber is arguing that it has never had any difficulties doing so with other local authorities.
A Sheffield city council spokesperson said, “Uber’s license was suspended last Friday (29 November) after the current license holder failed to respond to requests, made by our licensing team, about the management of Uber.”
Uber has said, “The council told us they couldn’t change the name on the license, as most other councils have done, and that we would instead have to apply for a new one.”
Uber did apply for a new license on October 18 under a different name, and the council says that they are processing it.
“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,” said Uber.
Some are using this issue as “more proof [Uber’s] exploitative business model does not pay.”
Lee Parkinson of the GMB union asks, “When will Uber admit it has to change its ways and put the safety of its drivers and the public before profits?”
Featured Image: twitter
