Delhi authorities give Uber deadline for licence application

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Authorities in New Delhi have set Uber Technologies Inc a Feb. 25 deadline to provide supporting details for the online taxi-hailing firm's application to operate in the city.

Uber was banned in Delhi in December after one of its drivers was accused of raping a female passenger. Last month, the company applied for a radio taxi licence and resumed operations, but its application has yet to be officially approved.

In a letter issued to Uber on Wednesday and seen by Reuters a day later, the transport department gave the U.S. firm a "final opportunity" to submit within a week additional details to support the application, including on its call centre arrangements and proof that it has an office in the city.

A government official said Uber's application would be discarded if it did not comply by the deadline. "We can't keep the application hanging," the official said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

An Uber spokesman said the company was "evaluating the deficiencies in its application in the time period provided by the government". He declined to provide further details.

Rules set by Delhi's transport department in December require companies operating taxi-hailing apps to install emergency buttons in their cabs and have tracking devices.

In the last two months, Uber has tightened its driver screening norms and introduced India-specific safety measures, including a panic button within its mobile app.

Uber's Indian rival Ola, backed by Japan's SoftBank Corp , has already provided the additional details requested by the transport department, the government official said.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Miral Fahmy)