An Uber Technologies Inc. logo sits on a smartphone display in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Friday, Dec. 22, 2017. Uber will be regulated in European Union countries as a transport company after the bloc's top court rejected its claim to be a digital service provider, a decision that could increase legal risks for other gig-economy companies including Airbnb. Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
In a TV ad currently airing in the UK, a young woman leaves a bar alone and prepares to step into an Uber. “I know his license number and he's made 3,000 trips and speaks four languages,” she says to the camera. “He'll probably make me laugh and he'll be here in one minute.”
The global ride-sharing juggernaut Uber Inc wants the citizens of one of its largest markets to know that its service is safe for riders and lucrative for drivers. But this week, its fate will be the hands of much smaller audience: a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London.
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