Uber banned in New Delhi after driver assaults female passenger
Uber has been banned in New Delhi after a driver raped and threatened to kill a female passenger.
Uber has been banned in New Delhi
The taxi app came under fire for failing to conduct a background check on the 32-year-old man who faced a previous rape charge in 2011. The man was charged with the assault on Sunday (7 December) after the victim took a picture of his registration plate.
A government statement said: “[The] transport department has banned all activities relating to providing any transport service by Uber with immediate effect.”
The ban followed a statement from Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick, vowing to clean up the firm’s act in the region: “What happened over the weekend in New Delhi is horrific. Our entire team’s hearts go out to the victim of this despicable crime.
"We will do everything, I repeat, everything to help bring this perpetrator to justice and to support the victim and her family in her recovery."
He concluded: “We will also 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.”
Deepak Mishra, a Delhi special commissioner, said the taxi was not installed with mandatory GPS in addition to the firm’s failure to background check the perpetrator.
This comes after the firm last week announced it received an additional $1.2bn with its latest fundraiser - bringing its valuation to around $40bn.