Cities have a love-hate relationship with Uber. On one hand, the San Francisco ridehailing giant has exploded transportation options for those with smartphones and a bit of extra cash. No more need to drive tipsily back from a night on the town. No more waiting for a taxi that may never arrive. No more crowded, slow public transport. Uber is fast, Uber is cheap, Uber is easy.

Uber is controversial. Extra cars picking up, dropping off, and wandering around for fares can worsen traffic and air pollution. The service raises questions about the rights of workers in the gig economy, and about the safety of drivers and riders alike. That leaves cities wondering if the upsides of having Uber around outweigh those consequences.

London thinks not. In a shock decision Monday, the city’s transportation authority declined to renew Uber’s operating license, citing the company’s approach to criminal offense reporting and driver background checks, and Greyball, the software program Uber has used to evade regulators in places like Portland, Oregon, and France. Uber will appeal the decision, and can stay on the road until the courts make a final decision.

“As Mayor of London I welcome innovative new companies that help Londoners by providing a better and more affordable service—but providing an innovative service is not an excuse for not following the rules," London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement.

It’s unclear how long that legal process will take, and whether TfL and Uber could find a compromise without the lawyers duking it out. What is clear is that London has found a way to fight back against a company that has built a reputation for defying local government without repercussions.

“Creativity can take a while,” says Jon Orcutt, the former head of policy at New York City's department of transportation and now communications lead at the research organization TransitCenter. “Cities are acquiring some confidence to re-confront these these guys, and figuring out where they have the policy leverage.” Turns out it just might be possible to play hardball with Uber.

The Facts

London’s issues with Uber are manifold. By 2015, 78,000 private for hire vehicles choked the streets of the already congested city, an nearly one fifth of them Ubers. Transport for London has made no secret of its displeasure with the company. In 2015, it proposed a raft of new regulations for private hire vehicles, even suggesting making Ubers wait five minutes after booking before picking up a customer. It dropped those amid public pressure, but continues to bat around ideas like capping the number of private for-hire vehicles in central London.

This summer, though, TfL’s concerns took on a more urgent bent. A letter from the Metropolitan Police highlighted nine separate events where they felt Uber had dragged its heels in reporting crimes. In one notable incident, a driver who had inappropriately touched a rider got off with a warning, and went on to repeat the offense. (Uber says the incident was in part a misunderstanding, and that it has since established a working group to ease collaboration with the police. “We obviously dropped the ball there,” says Harry Porter, an Uber spokesperson.)

After Transport for London announced it would not be renewing its license, usually-pugnacious Uber struck a conciliatory tone. “On behalf of everyone at Uber globally, I apologise for the mistakes we’ve made,” new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in an open letter. (Note the courteous English spelling.) “You have my commitment that we will work with London to make things right.”

It’s a departure for Uber, which has historically preferred fire, fury, and petulance to diplomacy. This is the company that ended service in Austin after the Texan capital imposed regulations like fingerprinting drivers. The company that launched an ultra-snarky in-app de Blasio mode when New York’s mayor threatened to cap the number of its cars. (De Blasio backed down.) London, though, may be too important for the not-yet-profitable company to lose. With 3.5 million riders, London is Uber’s biggest European market. By yanking that operating license, London has found itself a big bargaining chip.