UBER's chief executive met privately with Transport for London's (TfL) boss in recent days amid a legal battle over the ride-sharing giant's future in the capital, it emerged yesterday.

Dara Khosrowshahi met TfL commissioner Mike Brown to discuss the dispute, Sky News first reported.

The meeting, which had not been publicly disclosed, happened while Khosrowshahi was on his way to Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum this week.

It came two months after TfL banned Uber in London for the second time.

TfL said unlicensed operators had uploaded photos on other people's Uber accounts, leading to at least 14,000 trips involving these fraudulent drivers.

Uber launched an appeal against the decision last month. A hearing is expected in the first half of this year.

An Uber spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting, but said: "We are appealing TfL's decision... Safety is our top priority."

A TfL spokesperson said late last night: "The [chief executive] of Uber met with the TfL commissioner while he was in Europe for a number of meetings."

(c) 2020 City A.M., source Newspaper