I’m A London Uber Driver, And I Don’t Know How I’ll Provide For My Family Without It

“I have five children, and am the only on in my family who works. If Uber have to leave London, I don’t know what I’ll do.” 

Muhumed Ali, 48, from east London, has been an Uber driver for four-and-a-half years. He said Monday’s news that Transport For London (TfL) had denied Uber’s license in the capital had left him “devastated”. 

“We were all shocked, you know,” he said. “Nobody wants to hear that their job, their only income, could be taken away. 

“It feels like nobody is listening to the drivers – the honest people who are working really hard to make a living.

“It’s not perfect, but driving like this means I can work around my family. I really don’t know what I will do if I can’t any more.” 

The ride-hailing company, which employs 45,000 drivers in London alone, was told on Monday morning by TfL that it would not be granted a new operator’s license over safety fears. 

A spokesperson for TfL said the authority was not confident Uber would not breach standards in the future, after major issues were found during the reapplication process for a new license. 

Among these was the revelation that a change to Uber’s system meant unauthorised drivers could upload their photos to other Uber drivers’ accounts, which allowed them to pick up passengers under false names.

This occurred in at least 14,000 trips, which meant the journeys were uninsured and unlicensed, and put passenger safety at risk. TfL said one of these cases involved a former driver whose license had been revoked after receiving a caution for distributing indecent images of children. 

Uber’s regional general manager for northern and eastern Europe, Jamie Heywood, called TfL’s decision “extraordinary and wrong”, stating that the business had “fundamentally changed” in order to meet safety standards and pointing out that the London authority had found the company to be a “fit and proper authority just two months ago. 

The minicab app now has 21 days to appeal the decision, and can continue to operate in the meantime.