Uber has raised the bar for transport sector tech, but has lost sight of the fundamentals.
That鈥檚 the view of Philip Macartney, head of marketplace at taxi dispatch platform iCabbi.
His comments follow news that Transport for London has stripped the well-recognised firm of its operating licence.
The regulator cited 鈥渟everal breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk鈥� when announcing that it would not renew the firm鈥檚 existing permit.
It now has less than a month to appeal the decision. Macartney told 老九品茶Cloud that he welcomed the decision.
鈥淚t’s good to see authorities like TfL pushing back and holding Uber to account in the same way as the taxi industry has been held for years,鈥� he said.
鈥淯ber shouldn’t ever be given any special treatment.鈥�
Macartney believes that the firm鈥檚 dominance has had a positive effect on the industry by raising the bar of tech-enabled transport. But now, as competing firms catch up, they are ready to bounce back.
鈥淭he USP of disruption is gone. The passenger apps and driver apps that are out there are as good, if not better,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here are companies that are ready to give passengers exactly the same Uber experience with a localised brand.
鈥淭hese guys are digitised, their automation systems for booking are phenomenal. They are increasing their card and digital payments left, right and centre.鈥�
Macartney said that the concerns raised by TfL, which include uninsured drivers and risks to passenger safety, were caused by its company culture, rather than its technology.
鈥淭hey rolled in like a steamroller and said 鈥榳e know what we鈥檙e doing鈥� and they鈥檝e forgotten about the fundamentals of business like passenger safety and driver earnings.
鈥淚 don’t think technology can mask that, it actually goes the opposite way. Technology finds the fissures and cracks.
鈥淭hey can throw money at it, but that didn’t work for Yahoo or AOL鈥eed I go on? This could be the start of a few dominoes falling.鈥�
Sam Dumitriu, research director at The Entrepreneurs Network, disagrees.
He said in a statement that TfL鈥檚 decision sends a signal to the world that London isn鈥檛 open to innovation and competition.
鈥淭he violations uncovered by TfL, while troubling, have been addressed through stricter checks on drivers using AI and facial recognition,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason to expect that this specific problem will continue.
鈥淔urthermore, if you take into account Uber鈥檚 other safety features, it鈥檚 likely they compare favourably to other modes of transport in London and definitely favourably compared to transport in London 10 years ago, before Uber.
鈥淒isruption, innovation, and competition in the private hire market has been overwhelmingly beneficial to Londoners.鈥�
Uber will continue to operate until mid-December, when a final decision following an appeal will decide if the firm can continue to operate.