An Uber driver who got into thousands of pounds of debt and feared losing his home due to delays in Transport for London renewing his licence to pick up passengers is taking on the organisation in the high court in the first challenge of its kind. Julius Mugabo, 55, has been an Uber driver licensed by TfL since 2016. Under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998, all minicab drivers cannot work lawfully unless TfL has carried out checks on them and issued or renewed their licences.
These licences must be renewed every three years. There are approximately 100,000 private hire drivers in London working through apps such as Uber and Bolt. According to freedom of information data obtained by the Conservatives, almost 18,000 of them have received “goodwill” payments of between £300 and £500 due to delays in renewing their licences.
Mugabo had not experienced any problems until he made a routine renewal application at the end of last year. TfL repeatedly delayed processing his renewal application, asking him to provide supporting documentation he said he had already provided. My licence expired at the end of March 2026.
I only received my renewed licence recently after I started the legal action against TfL,” he said. I owed HMRC £3,000 in tax but because I couldn’t pay my tax bill on time the bill has gone up to £20,000 because of the interest. We didn’t lose our home but I was under so much stress and pressure.
The landlord threatened to evict us because I struggled to pay the rent.” The high court action against TfL alleges that the transport authority breached its legal duties by failing to process private hire vehicle licence renewals on time. In a ruling granting a full judicial review hearing, Mr Justice Sweeting said the delay “caused immediate and serious consequences for [Mugabo] and his family”. He added: “TfL accepts that the processing of the claimant’s application did not meet its usual standards.” The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which represents private hire drivers on apps such as Uber and Bolt, said it had many members affected by the TfL licence processing delays, and that some of drivers had fallen into debt, had lost their cars and faced eviction.
It is supporting the high court challenge. Alex Marshall, the president of the IWGB, said: “As they celebrate this ruling bringing them closer to justice, the minicab drivers who keep London moving are sending TfL a clear message: they will not be taken for a ride. TfL could easily have acted at the earliest sign of crisis, as the first drivers lost their incomes through no fault of their own.
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