International taxi-booking service Uber was banned in the capital today and the government is considering similar action across the country as outrage grew over the alleged rape of a 27-year-old woman executive by its driver who is stated to be a repeat offender and was jailed before.
FIR against Uber
The case had also a new twist over a ‘character certificate’ issued in the name of an Additional DCP of the Delhi Police to the accused driver Shiv Kumar Yadav in August this year with Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi calling it fake and ordering a probe into this and registration of an FIR. This certificate was provided to Uber, police said.
Late tonight, Delhi Police filed an FIR against Uber for alleged cheating even as earlier in the day, a senior Delhi Police official said “we may book the company under CrPc section 188 and other charges as criminal negligence and abetment to the crime have been made out against Uber“.
“We have registered a separate FIR against Uber under Section 420 (cheating) of IPC. In inveatigations so far, it emerged that the company cheated their customer on the pretext of providing safe commuting with duly verfied driver,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma told PTI.
Company official grilled
Investigators probing the rape case have found “criminal negligence” and “abetment” of crime by the US-based cab company whose General Manager (Marketing) Gagan Bhatia was grilled today. Bhatia claims to be the in-charge of the company’s India operations, police said.
A day after Yadav, 32, was arrested in Mathura, the Delhi government also blacklisted Uber from providing any transport service in the capital even as it emerged that Yadav had spent seven months in jail in a rape case in 2011. Yadav was acquitted in that case.
“The transport department has banned all activities related to providing of any transport service by www.uber.com with immediate effect. The department has also blacklisted the company from providing any transport service in the NCT of Delhi in future,” the Delhi government said in a statement.
Yadav was today remanded in police custody for three days by a Delhi court. He will be in police custody till December 11. Police said Yadav needs to be interrogated for recovery of a mobile phone used by him.
All States to ban Uber?
Official sources said the Union Home Ministry is planning to ask all state governments and administration of nine union territories, where Uber runs its cab services, to put a ban on it.
Uber cab services are available in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Pune.
The rape case also brought to spotlight the laxity in enforcement of established norms governing the transport sector in the Capital.
“He did not have the mandatory PSV badge that is issued by the state transport authority after getting a police verification. Uber did not bother to check that and hired him,” said a police officer.
Criminal negligence
Yadav, who was driving the Uber cab, allegedly raped the woman on Friday night when the victim, who works for a finance company in Gurgaon, was headed back to her home in north Delhi’s Inderlok area.
The police said that during investigations prime facie it has emerged that criminal negligence was made out on the part of Uber as a number of alleged shortcomings were found on their part as neither the driver was verified nor there was a GPS tracking device in the car.
As per norms, it is mandatory for all private cab service providers to carry out a background check and obtain police verification of the drivers.
Meanwhile, the city witnessed protests at various places including outside Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence.
Holding placards and chanting anti—government slogans, the protesters demanded better security for women and punishment for the driver.