Delhi Government Bans Uber, Says It Is Misleading Customers

"The services of Uber have been blacklisted. We have just issued an order saying Uber's activities stand banned in Delhi," Special Commissioner of Delhi Transport Department, Satish Mathur has told ET. He added that Uber is "misleading customers" by offering them Taxis with All-India permits that cannot ply in Delhi from point-to-point ferrying customers. "In this rape case, the victim was provided a All India Permit Taxi which is not allowed to ferry customers point-to-point in the National capital.

We will also be issuing a public notice saying Uber is not authorised to provide any taxi services in the capital so that customers are aware which are the authorised radio Cab services. Uber is not a authorised radio cab service and has been operating illegally," Mathur said. When asked if other companies like Ola and Taxi-For-Sure will also face the heat as they employ similar methodology as Uber to provide Taxis to customers through a mobile application, Mathur said the matter will need to be studied further with regard to other companies. "Right now, we have banned Uber as we came to know only after this incident about its services in Delhi. We too had to log on to the internet to know how the company works," Mathur has told ET.

Mathur pointed out that cabs ferrying customers in Delhi from point-to-point have to follow rules under the Radio Taxi Scheme, 2006 which specifies that the licensee must be either a company under the Companies Act, 1956 or a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The rules also say that licensee must demonstrate possession of adequate parking space for all taxies and office space (minimum of 1000 sq. ft.) for accommodating the control room with radio communication and ten telephone lines, minimum fleet size per license would be 500 motor cabs and vehicle must be fitted with GPS/GPRS based tracking devises which must be in constant communication with the Central Control unit while the vehicles is on duty. "The rules also say that the radio taxi licensee shall be responsible for quality of drivers, their police verification, employer control and supervision of drivers, employee behaviour.

The employers shall also ensure that the drivers are totally safe, reliable and trustworthy. But Uber never applied for any permission to us, is not recognised under the Radio Taxi Rules and has flouted most of the laid-down rules," Mathur said. He however denied receiving any complaints against Uber in the past.

Matters have gone worse for Uber on Monday after it was revealed that the accused driver in the present case, Shiv Kumar Yadav, has a criminal history and was in fact arrested for raping another woman in 2011 while ferrying her in a cab from Gurgaon to Mehrauli. Yadav had spent seven months in Tihar Jail and was presently out on bail. Delhi Police officials, who have summoned Uber executives for questioning, say the company did not exercise basic background checks or subject the driver to a police verification before allowing him to join Uber's services and offer his taxi to customers through the Uber mobile application.

Uber meanwhile issued a fresh statement on Tuesday saying it will work with the government "to establish clear background checks currently absent in their commercial transportation licensing programs" and partner closely with the groups "who are leading the way on women's safety here in New Delhi and around the country and invest in technology advances to help make New Delhi a safer city for women." Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement in Parliament on the case as well.