Protests against the rape of a woman passenger allegedly by a Uber taxi driver in New Delhi (Agence France-Presse photo)
Uber, the app that allows users to hail taxis, has been banned in Delhi by the transport department after one of its drivers was arrested for rape.
Here are the latest developments in this story:
The driver, Shiv Kumar Yadav, was arrested in his village in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday evening. He had abandoned the taxi he owned a day before that.
He is accused of raping a 27-year-old finance executive in South Delhi on Friday night.
Uber, which allows users to hail a taxi through its easy-to-use app, allegedly failed to run basic background checks on the driver, who was hired six months ago. A statement by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick pledged to support the police investigation and said, "We will work with the government to establish clear background checks currently absent in their commercial transportation licensing programs." (Read: Full statement by Uber CEO)
Shiv Kumar Yadav was arrested for sexual assault three years ago in Delhi, but he was acquitted later.
Uber has not commented yet on whether it was aware of this earlier case against the driver.
Uber is being served a legal notice by the police today to join the investigation. Sources say if the investigation reveals that Uber did not follow the required processes in checking the record of the driver, it's likely to face a case of criminal culpability.
"Every violation by Uber will be evaluated and we will go for legal recourse," said Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner with the Delhi Police.
The police say that Uber does not have required taxi-operating permits for Delhi; the car used by Yadav did not have a satellite location device or GPS.
An Uber app on Yadav's phone was the only way for the company to track his location. Yadav switched off his phone. That's all it took to allow him to disappear off Uber's map.
Uber said on Sunday that safety is its first priority and it is assisting the police. "Our thoughts remain with the victim who has shown tremendous courage under the circumstances" said a company statement.
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