Uber rape: Cab service under scanner, unregistered cabs face action

Within the own BJP government at the centre there seems to be a difference of opinion with Union Home Minister asking state governments to ban them while Transport Minister  Nitin Gadkari voicing that "banning services is not a solution to the problem" since then all modes of transport - be it train or bus- where such crimes occur- have to be prohibited.

Uber, the US company launched in 2009 which now operates in over 200 cities worldwide, has been banned, Delhi Transport officials said.

The company is under scanner and its CEO in India has been called by authorities. Reports said FIR has been lodged against Uber, which apparently had double standards in verifying records of drivers in India and elsewhere in other parts of the world.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked all state governments to consider banning internet-based taxi services, media reports said.

An advisory from the home ministry said people should not hire these cab firms until they get permission to operate from state governments.

Delhi is reportedly considering a ban on web-based cab services which operate through apps. Uber was blacklisted on Monday.

Sources said that similar services like Ola, Taxi4Sure and TaxiPixi, which also operate through web-based apps, could also face a ban in the days to come.

Delhi Women's Commission has also summoned the local CEO of Uber, as chairperson Barkha Singh said they will try to get the cab company closed.

After the alleged rape of the 25-year-old girl by the Uber driver last Friday, in a petition on change.org, petitioner Alina said Uber has double standards when it comes to the safety of its users in India.

The petition said "this driver was a repeat offender and had spent seven months in Tihar jail in a sexual assault case. This is outrageous!"

If your company had run a background check and got police verification done, this crime could have been avoided. "What's worse, you have a three step background check process in the US but not in India. These are double standards," it said.

Uber on its website says: “All Uber ridesharing and livery partners must go through a rigorous background check that leads the industry. The three-step screening we’ve developed across the United States, which includes county, federal and multi-state checks, has set a new standard. These checks go back 7 years. We apply this comprehensive and new industry standard consistently across all Uber products, including uberX.”

The petitioner asked why do they have these double standards then?

"Why aren’t the Indian Uber drivers subjected to the same process of background checks?"

Meanwhile, reports said accused cab driver Shiv Kumar Yadav, who had submitted fake verification certificates to the company and has previously served in jail in a sexual assault case, has confessed to raping the woman in the cab on Friday night, but has not shown any regret or remorse.

He actually had threatened the girl to kill and insert an iron rod in her person if she reported the matter to police, reminding the chilling details of the Delhi bus grangrape of Nirbhaya in Dec 2012.

The was coming from Gurgaon to North Delhi when the incident occurred. She after the incident accidentally sent an SMS meant for her friend, that she was raped, to the accused driver, alerting him and he then tried to escape. He was nabbed from Mathura later. 

The young woman had dozed off when she found the car parked in an isolated place and she being attacked by the man.