London (dpa) - The ride-hailing company Uber has been refused a new licence to operate in London over safety and security concerns, the Press Association (PA) reported on Monday.
"Several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk" were identified, a spokesman for the licensing body Transport for London (TfL) told PA.
Uber's current licence expires just before midnight on Monday, but it will be allowed to continue operating pending an appeal, PA reported.
"Safety is our absolute top priority. While we recognize Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured," TfL's director of licensing, regulation and charging Helen Chapman told PA.
"It is clearly concerning that these issues arose, but it is also concerning that we cannot be confident that similar issues won't happen again in future," she said.
Uber says on its website that it operates in 63 countries and over 700 cities worldwide and has 91 million active users each month. Earlier this month it reported a net loss of nearly 1.2 billion dollars for the most recent quarter.
