Ola’s operating license cancelled in London due to safety measures
Bengaluru based start-up Ola was doing well in London before the pandemic though the company has started facing a downfall there since February. Ola’s operating license cancelled in London due to safety concerns by London Transport Authority stating the reason behind such a step is the ignorant behavior of the company towards the safety of people by neglecting its license regime which led to some unlicensed drivers as well as vehicle undertaking.
The authority mentioned that the Ola cab application was not “fit and proper” to hold license as it has put the safety of passengers at risk. The company which entered the market and faced rivals like Uber, Freenow, and Bolt, is now facing the challenges as due to license cancellation by London’s public transport authority.
As per the statement given by the authority, it has declined to grant Ola, a new London Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) operator’s license as it is not fit and proper to hold one after the discovery of several failures that could have risked safety of people. Also, Ola has neglected and failed to notify these breaches to Transport for London (TFL) when they first occurred. Now the company has only 21 days to appeal against the authority’s decision.
Before Ola, Uber faced the same challenges when London’s public transport authority declared it to be unfit due to some safety concerns, but the company won the legal bid as the ruling judge decided that the company is fit and proper despite some “historical failings”. The authority has announced that the company can continue to operate pending the outcome of any appeal process.
As Ola’s operating license cancelled in London due to safety concerns, the company in an email has declared that it was working with the authority during the review period and is now trying their best to solve any issues raised by the authority and will try to assure safe conduct of operations by the app in a transparent manner.
The company has declared that it will appeal this decision of the authority and will continue its operations normally.
