Amid Delhi uproar, officials of Uber, Ola, TaxiForSure go silent

Top management of these web- and mobile-based taxi services yet to communicate

As a fallout of the rape in an Uber cab that rocked the national capital over the weekend, the Delhi transport department late on Monday banned all taxi service providers using web-based technology and not having the requisite permits from authorities. This comes after the government earlier in the day prohibited US-based taxi aggregator Uber from operating in Delhi, after one of its drivers allegedly raped a 27-year-old woman on Friday night. 

The move affects several home-grown taxi service providers, including Ola Cabs and TaxiforSure, officials from neither of which were available for comment, despite multiple attempts. Phones of founders of Ola Cabs, as well as TaxiForSure, were switched off. Several other officials, including media relations ones, had been unreachable since Tuesday morning. 

Ola Cabs is led by CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and TaxiForSure by Raghunandan G.

In the case of Uber, all officials based in India – with the exception of its Singapore-based spokesperson Evelyn Tay – have gone silent since the incident. Asked to comment on Uber being banned in Delhi, Tay said in a late Monday night email: “We will keep the media posted when we have updates.”

In an interview with the Economic Times, however, Eric Alexander, president of business for Uber in Asia, said the company would compensate the victim and work to comply with the law of the land, even as it appeals against the ban.

For now, the Delhi transport authority has allowed only six taxi companies – Easy Cabs, Mega Cabs, Meru Cabs, Chanson Cabs, Yo Cabs and Air Cabs – to operate, as these have licences from the transport department for ‘Radio Taxis’ in the National Capital Region. 

Police authorities had alleged after Friday’s incident that Uber had not conducted adequate background checks on the driver, who had been accused of raping a woman in his cab earlier too. He had been acquitted in 2011 after spending seven months in jail. The driver has been remanded to three days in police custody for interrogation by a Delhi court. 

“Uber’s services were also in contravention of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, and rules framed under it,” said the government in a statement. According to the authorities, an All-India Tourist Permit holder was provided by Uber on the request of the commuter, through Uber's web application, for a local journey within Delhi. That is not permitted under the current law. 

On Sunday, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had said in a statement: “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.” 

Kalanick also said that “clear background checks” are currently “absent” in India’s commercial transportation licensing programmes. His comment on India’s unclear background check norms was criticised as passing the blame for the crime on to Indian authorities. 

Business Standard had on Monday reported that Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was likely to speak to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung about the circumstances that led the Delhi government to ban Uber services. The ministry is also likely to issue revised advisory to such transport operators and suggest Aadhaar numbers as a possible solution to the problem of driver verification.