Protests against the rape of a woman passenger allegedly by a Uber taxi driver in New Delhi (Agence France-Presse photo)
After the rape of a young Delhi woman, allegedly by an Uber cab driver, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has today written to all states to consider banning internet-based taxi services. However, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari commented that "Banning services is not a solution to the problem."
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
In what is being seen as an over-reaction by many, the Delhi government has reportedly decided to ban all taxi services that are web-based. Uber was banned yesterday from operating in and around the capital; nearly 20 other cab services are likely to be blacklisted, leaving thousands of drivers unemployed, and cutting off women from a service that was seen as safe.
The Delhi government says in addition to the city's yellow-and-black taxis, only six other firms are licensed to operate as radio cabs and are appropriately regulated.
In Delhi, cabs that work on web-based apps are not registered with the state Transport Department. The Delhi government, however, has not explained why it did not move earlier to stop Uber and other internet-based services like Ola Cabs. The firms have been in business in Delhi for months, and have advertised their services extensively.
The police says cases of cheating and violating a government order have been filed against Uber because the firm defaulted on basic safety checks. It did not verify the police record of the driver accused of rape, and the car he used was not fitted with GPS.
Uber executives questioned by the police have ceded that they did not verify the background of the driver, Shiv Kumar Yadav, who joined the firm six months ago.
He had a permit to operate a taxi issued by the Transport Department, but the police says that the documents used to obtain that permit were forged and did not refer to an earlier rape case against Yadav.
The police has ordered an enquiry to determine how the papers were forged and accepted by officials.
In 2011, Yadav spent seven months in jail for allegedly raping a woman who worked at a pub in Gurgaon but he was later acquitted, the police said.
Cops say he has confessed that on Friday night, he noticed his woman passenger was asleep and then drove her to an isolated spot where he raped her.
He abandoned her on the road near her neighbourhood in North Delhi; she took a photo of the taxi's license plate.
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