Uber Case Uber is an app-based transportation network and taxi company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company uses a smartphone application to receive ride requests, and then sends these trip requests to their drivers. Customers use the app to request rides and track their reserved vehicle's location. Uber is the subject of ongoing protests from taxi drivers, taxi companies and governments who believe that it is an illegal taxicab operation that engages in unfair business practices and compromises passenger safety. As of Dec 2014, protests had been staged in Germany, India, Spain, France, and England, among other nations, while incidents involving passengers have been documented. In Dec 2014, Uber was banned in Spain, and two cities in India, and continues to be involved in disputes with several governmental bodies, including those of the U.S. and Australia.
Old Culprit It was found that Shiv Kumar Yadav was involved in at least four more cases, apart from the two already known - the Friday rape incident and the 2011 alleged rape case. Reports said another case of rape was filed against the accused in 2013. Also, he is out on bail in three more cases - two molestation cases were registered against him in 2009 while he was also booked under the Arms Act in 2006. A girl took to Twitter on 10-Dec and revealed that she had taken a cab with Shiv Kumar Yadav in Delhi on November 26 and complained against him to Uber via email. She had complained to Uber that during the ride Shiv stared at her through the rear view mirror and also smiled at her in a weird way. In reply, Uber wrote to her that they will look into the matter.
Uber - Law Breaker? • • •
The driver was not verified as per the regulations Cab did not have a GPS tracker Uber violated provisions of the Radio Taxi Scheme 2006 by virtue of being an app service (which only ties up with fleet operators instead of having its own fleet)
Indian Institute of Management Raipur
Page 1 of 3
•
•
•
U.S. taxi-hailing company Uber Technologies violated Indian regulations by "bypassing" rules when it used an overseas gateway to conduct transactions in the country, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said In Spain, a judge banned Uber on grounds of – Drivers hired for rides via the application lack the administrative authorization to carry out the job, and the activity they carry out constitutes unfair competition Transport authorities in Thailand ordered Uber to suspend services with immediate effect on 10-Dec. Thai officials say the company was operating in the Southeast Asian nation illegally
As It Happened
A Different View In all this outrage, the bigger question of the safety of women or the lack of it in the capital, was being conveniently missed. What happened to all the safeguards promised after the Nirbhaya incident? Of measures such as mobile police vans to be places in strategic places etc.? The politicians too were conveniently silent and the entire heat was directed to the alleged lapse of a global cab service provider. Since the incident happened in the capital city, to a young professional who used a posh app-based cab service, the amount of outrage on social media was
Indian Institute of Management Raipur
Page 2 of 3
exponentially more. An app, which Twitter users fawned over, even till a couple of days ago, was vilified and abused to a great extent, even though the facts of the case were still distinctly hazy. Social media these days, mostly thrives on at least one outrage a day on any topic, where often the side show outshines the main problem. This has a lot to do with our escapist mentality, where we are not really willing to face the main problem, question ourselves and the society at large. The notion of some app-based service eliminating complex problems like rape is a childish assumption in itself. These private cab services try to instill a sense of security among its users. But the people who are involved with the entire system are not isolated from the society but very much a part of it. So while the outrage is justified, as it breaks the convenient 'lie' we bought about how insulated these cab services are from the outside world, it is hardly worth it. The silence we like to maintain about the burning problems of the country is with the assumption that it will not affect us. Once that breaks, all hell breaks loose and we look for the nearest villain we can single out. While there was much outrage about the incident being the fault of the app-based cab service, there were still a few who did attempt to talk about broader issues that needed to be fixed, like public transportation. Someone tweeted “Uber or no Uber, #Delhi transportation is in a mess. Apart from the metro, it is unsafe, uncoordinated, and simply chaotic”. If banning Uber can solve all the problems, then do it, by all means. But then, be ready to find another villain next time a similar type of incident happens.
Regulating better than Banning Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari was against banning cab services in the wake of the Delhi rape case. “It doesn't make sense to ban services. Tomorrow, if something happens on a bus we can't ban that. It is the system that needs to be changed. Banning will only cause inconvenience to the people,” he said. “System of giving driver's license is faulty; new digitalized system will be designed where everyone's track record can be viewed,” the minister said further, adding, “if there are improvements needed in the system they should be looked at.”
Indian Institute of Management Raipur
Page 3 of 3
