Uber competitor Taxify ordered out of London after just a few days

A startup competitor to Uber has been ordered out of London just a few days after it launched.

Estonia-based Taxify brought its app - which connects private hire drivers with customers in a similar way to Uber - to the capital at the start of the week.

But now Transport for London, the local government authority responsible for major roads and public transport in the Greater London area, has told the company it was breaking the law around private hire in the capital.

“The law requires private hire bookings to be taken by licensed private hire operators at a licensed premises, with appropriate record keeping,” TfL said in a statement.

“Taxify is not a licensed private hire operator and is not licensed to accept private hire bookings in London.

“TfL has instructed Taxify to stop accepting bookings and it has done so.”

Taxify, in its own statement, described itself as a technological platform for customers to hail rides from private hire companies, which do have their own licenses.

It confirmed it had stopped operations “temporarily” while it clarified its legal position.

The development came at a time when Uber’s existence in the capital was also up in the air, as TfL is due to decide whether to renew the US giant’s private hire license.