Uber has had its licence suspended in Sheffield just months after the taxi-hailing app lost its licence in London.
Transport for London (TfL) decided not to reissue Uber with a private hire operator licence in September. Although Uber has launched an appeal, which allows it to continue operating in the UK capital while the appeal process plays out.
Now, Sheffield City Council has suspended Uber’s licence after the technology firm “failed to respond” to requests from the council’s licensing department.
Sheffield City Council said in a statement:"Uber’s licence was suspended last Friday after the current licence holder failed to respond to requests, made by our licensing team, about the management of Uber.
"It is legally allowed to operate up to December 18, and if it chooses to appeal this suspension it can continue to operate until the appeal is heard. If it decides against an appeal the suspension will come into force.
"We received a new application, for a licence to operate taxis in Sheffield, from Uber Britannia Limited, on October 18, 2017 which we are currently processing.
"Any new application is dealt with by the licensing department who will decide if those applying for the licence meet the criteria. It will only be referred to the licensing sub-committee if a decision by the committee is required. The legislation does not allow for the transfer of an operator’s licence.”
An Uber spokesperson said that it had applied to Sheffield City Council for a change of name on its licence because the individual named on the original licence was leaving the company.
“We submitted an application for a new licence on October 16 which continues to be processed,” said Uber. “While we are in regular contact with the council, we did not receive the correspondence the council refers to as they sent the letters to the incorrect address.
“We hope this administrative error can be quickly resolved. If the new application can’t be resolved by December 18, we will of course submit an appeal so we can continue to serve the people of Sheffield.”