Uber won its licence back in London

Reuters

Uber's app in London.

• Uber has won back its London licence after a two-day court battle in the UK capital this week.
• It's good news for the 3.5 million people who use Uber in London.
• But Uber isn't out of the woods because the licence lasts for 15 months and the company has to meet regulator TfL's conditions.
• Despite making a decision favourable to Uber, chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot was critical of the company and said Uber thought it was "above the law."
• Uber admitted it deserved to lose its licence last year but argued it had made lots of changes in the last 9 months.

Uber has won back its London licence after a two-day court battle with the capital's regulator Transport for London (TfL).

The win is a boost for new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi. Much of Uber's case rested on convincing the court that it was past the bad-boy days of its former CEO Travis Kalanick.

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Chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot granted Uber a 15-month licence on the basis that the firm undergoes an independently verified verified audit every six months. TfL will then decide whether to renew Uber's licence again.

Uber has also agreed with TfL to meet several other conditions. These include reporting any serious safety complaints to the transport regulator, training up existing and new Uber drivers on carsharing safety, and informing TfL of any major data breaches in the wake Uber's 2016 breach.

That's after TfL complained last year about the company's approach to reporting serious driver offences, approach to driver medical and safety checks, and use of its secret "Greyball" software to dodge transport officials all contributed to its decision.

A spokesman for Uber said: "We are pleased with today's decision. We will continue to work with TfL to address their concerns and earn their trust, while providing the best possible service for our customers."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the court had "vindicated" TfL's original decision not to renew Uber's licence in September. "Uber has been put on probation - their 15 month licence has a clear set of conditions that TfL will thoroughly monitor and enforce," he said in a statement.

Judge: Uber 'thought they were above the law'

Despite Uber's victory, both TfL and Arbuthnot landed some bloody punches.

At one point during the proceedings on Tuesday, Arbuthnot said she had the impression that Uber "thought they were above the law."

And TfL's interim head of licensing Helen Chapman described a tough relationship with Uber over the last five years. She told the court on Tuesday: "We've had 5 years of a very difficult relationship where Uber has felt that they haven't required regulation and being regulated in the same way as everyone else we regulate."

She added that there were some serious cases where Uber had not taken complaints about drivers seriously enough, though she didn't go into detail. "Frankly some of the cases I've seen are quite appalling when they haven't taken any action... some of those concerns [and] cases that have been raised are very disturbing," she said.

Chapman added that while Uber had now reviewed complaints about drivers, "public safety has been compromised in that time."

Uber said it has fundamentally changed as a business since last September

Uber maintained an apologetic tone throughout the two days, admitting that it probably deserved to lose its licence thanks to the mistakes and corporate culture created under previous Kalanick. Executives including board chairwoman Laurel Powers-Freeling, UK Head of Cities Fred Jones, and UK and Ireland chief Tom Elvidge took the stand.

Those executives acknowledged that Uber had not been fully transparent with regulators, and that the information it had provided them in the past had been inadequate and even misleading. But its lawyer Thomas de la Mare argued Uber had made "wholesale change in the way that we conduct our business."

The firm pointed to its agreement with the Metropolitan Police to report serious crime, agreements with Uber's US parent firm to keep regulators in the loop about major product changes or issues, and the appointment of non-executive directors to its UK board.

This story is developing...