JOIN USUber ignores 'ban', runs cabs, offers big discount
Uber continues to be banned and blacklisted from providing any transport service in the Capital despite the US-based online ride-hailing service claiming that they are back to serve Delhi, said Delhi traffic police on Saturday.
Since Friday, Delhi traffic police have challaned 42 drivers and impounded 30 vehicles of Uber for violating terms and conditions of the Delhi Transport Department’s Radio Taxi Scheme 2006.
But many Uber cabs contine to run.
Not only that, on Friday the company also came up with a special discount of Rs 500, which can be utilised twice over by the end of this month, to woo passengers back.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Shukla told Deccan Herald that the force has been keeping track of the announcement by Uber to take strict legal action. Police have also downloaded the smartphone application of Uber saying it is not possible to physically verify every cab running in the capital.
“We have been booking cabs and taking action when the driver reports to the booking. What Uber is doing right now is absolutely illegal and we will submit these evidence with the courts concerned,” Shukla said.
Uber was banned from providing transport service in the capital by the Delhi Transport Department on December 8 after a woman was allegedly raped by a cab driver, who was employed without proper background checks.
The cab was provided to the rape victim by Uber through a smartphone application, which was in contravention of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988.
False claims
On Friday, Uber claimed that they have applied for a fresh licence, and continue to engage with relevant Delhi authorities. “As we resume operations in Delhi, we are only allowing driver-partners who have undergone reverification of their police clearance in the last six weeks to get back on the platform,” Uber said in a statement.
For an additional layer of screening, Uber claimed to have been implementing independent background checks on drivers and reviewing vehicle documentation.
Uber’s announcement comes days after the Delhi High Court asked Delhi authorities why websites of smartphone application-based cabs cannot be blocked. The court was hearing a PIL alleging that these taxi services were operating despite the ban.
Uber has offered a flat 25 per cent discount and two free rides of up to Rs 500 each this month to its users in theCapital.
A user of Uber’s smartphone application told Deccan Herald that he received a discount of Rs 500 on a ride that he took from south-west Delhi’s Samalka to south-east Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar on Saturday.
DH News Service