Indian ridesharing company Ola has been denied a new London private hire vehicle operator’s license by Transport for London (TfL).
TfL said Ola was not fit and proper to hold a license in the UK capital city after discovering a number of failures that it believed could have risked public safety.
These failures include unlicensed drivers and vehicles undertaking more than 1,000 passenger trips on behalf of Ola, and failing to report these breaches to TfL at the earliest possible opportunity.
Ola, whose 15-month licence expired on 3 October 2020, now has 21 days to appeal TfL’s decision to a magistrates’ court and can continue to operate pending the outcome of any appeal process.
Helen Chapman, TfL’s director of licensing, regulation and charging, said: “Our duty as a regulator is to ensure passenger safety. We will closely scrutinise the company to ensure passengers safety is not compromised.”
The news comes just one week after Uber was granted an 18-month licence to operate in London following a long-standing court battle with TfL.
