Another stunner for Uber: driver accused of molesting female passenger

Taxi hailing service Uber has run into yet another driver-related controversy. A female passenger in Delhi has complained that her Uber cab driver, a man named Vinod, tried to forcibly kiss her. According to a press release from the police commissioner’s office, a case of sexual harassment, under section 354A of the Indian Penal Code, was registered on Monday night at the Gurgaon sector 56 police station.

The incident took place on the night of May 29, when the woman booked an Uber in Gurgaon. Afterwards, she says she complained directly to the company, her brother Ankush Pathania says the family has not been satisfied with Uber’s response. In a public post made yesterday on Uber’s Facebook, he called the company “pathetic,” complaining that there had been “no action” and suggesting that the company was “shielding” Vinod.

A subsequent response from Uber to Pathania has failed to satisfy the family, he said on his Facebook page.

Uber SEA and India communications lead Karun Arya confirmed that the company is looking into the incident and provided Tech in Asia with the following statement:

Our team immediately reached out to the rider via phone within a few minutes of receiving the feedback. Multiple members of the Uber team have spoken with the driver. Uber has a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour and immediate action has already been taken with the driver partner being deactivated while the matter is being thoroughly investigated. In order to protect the privacy of parties involved, we will continue to handle this matter directly with the concerned parties. As discussed with the rider on the phone and email, our team is ready to assist further in any way we can to share information with authorities. We can also confirm that the driver partner does have a valid PSV badge and commercial license issued by the Delhi authorities.

This incident has happened in the wake of Uber appointing Amit Jain, former executive of Rent.com, as its India president. And of course, it also comes barely six months after an Uber driver named Shiv Kumar Yadav – a sex offender who somehow got a job with Uber – allegedly raped a female passenger. She went on to sue Uber in United States and the driver is currently behind bars. This cranked up the heat on all the app-based cab aggregators in Delhi and across India for better safety measures and proper background verifications.

Improper driver verifications by these app-based taxi aggregators have led to some serious concerns about women’s safety in Delhi. In yet another recent incident, this one on May 30, the driver of app-based taxi hailing service TaxiForSure left a female passenger along with her eight-year old son stranded on a deserted road.