Uber Boss Apologizes For Mistakes

Uber boss sounds like a character from G.I. Joe. Just putting that out there.

Last week, we reported on the closure of Uber’s operations in London, after Transportation for London denied the company a renewal on its private hire licence. The decision was based on concerns that the app was not fit to hold a licence and it had concerns about ‘public safety and security implications.’

Uber said it would appeal the decision, but the new boss, Dara Khosrowshahi, who was only made CEO a few weeks ago, said ‘I apologise for the mistakes we’ve made.’

In an open letter to Londoners, he said the firm ‘won’t be perfect, but we will listen to you.’

Mayor of the capital, Sadiq Khan, who is also the chairman of TfL, said that he appreciated that the company has ‘an army of lawyers’ and that they had also ‘made aggressive threats about taking us to court’. According to the organisation, however, Khan was not involved in the decision to deny Uber its licence.

One of the points brought up by TfL was the company’s approach to DBS checks. These checks are done to ensure drivers are suitable for the company, however, these have often been criticised. There are plenty of horror stories online about Uber, with drivers either making their clients feel uncomfortable or driving a longer route to deliberately make more money.

It seems there is no standardisation for drivers, or maybe the checks aren’t thorough enough. Saying that, however, there have been 730,000 signatures on a petition to keep Uber operating in London. While on the subject of transport, how does cheaper First Class train tickets sound?