Half million sign petition supporting Uber in London

Half a million people have signed an online petition in under 24 hours backing Uber's bid to stay on roads of London, showing the company is turning to its tried-and-tested tactic of asking  customers for help when it locks horns with regulators.

London's transport authorities stunned the powerful start-up on Sept. 22 when they deemed Uber unfit to run a taxi service for safety reasons and stripped it of its license from next week, although it can continue to operate while it appeals.  

The regulator cited Uber's failure to report serious criminal offices, conduct sufficient background checks on drivers and other safety issues, threatening the U.S. firm's presence in one of the world's wealthiest cities. 
Uber immediately emailed users in London and urged them to sign a petition that said the city authorities had "caved in to a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice". 

By 12.00 GMT on Sept. 23, more than 515,000 people had signed in support of Uber. 

It counted 3.5 million active users in London in the past three months. Even if many tourists are probably included in the total, the figure represents a potential political force of commuters who face long journeys between their home and offices and who use Uber as a cheaper alternative to other taxi firms. 

Turning to users for help is one of the first steps in Uber's playbook. In Jakarta, Budapest, Toronto and Portland it asked riders to sign petitions and built online tools to contact lawmakers to show their support.

Regulators have at least partly relented in Portland, Toronto and Jakarta, but Budapest remains a work in progress.

Uber now faces a showdown with London's Mayor Sadiq Khan, who this month said he wouldn't let his...

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