SMS sent by Uber to its drivers
With one of its drivers arrested on rape charges and its executives to be questioned today, Uber sent a text message today to other drivers, urging them to "stay united."
The Hindi text message was sent early this afternoon. "
Tum jaante ho yeh mushkil ki ghadi hai... lekin iss samay ek doosre ka saath dena hai (you know this is a tough time, we must all stand together), " says the sms, which also said in Hindi, "Uber is not going anywhere."
That proved incorrect -this afternoon, it was banned from offering any services in and around Delhi by the capital's transport department. (
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The Uber app connects users to taxis; the police says that the company did not conduct a basic police record check for the driver, Shiv Kumar Yadav, who was arrested last night in Uttar Pradesh.
A young woman executive says he raped her on Friday night in an isolated part of Delhi before abandoning her on the road near her home in North Delhi. The driver, who was untraceable because the car did not have a GPS system, switched off his phone, disabling Uber from being able to track his location via its app. The car was found on Saturday; Yadav was located a day later.
"We will work with the government to establish clear background checks currently absent in their commercial transportation licensing programs," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement released today. He pledged, "We will do everything, I repeat, everything to help bring this perpetrator to justice." (
Read full statement here)