New Delhi:
A woman passenger in Delhi has accused an Uber driver of sexually assaulting her while driving her to Gurgaon. The police said on Monday night that it has identified the driver and has registered a case.
The woman's brother lambasted Uber, an app-based taxi service, in a Facebook post that has been shared several hundred times.
"My sister availed your cab service, last night for Gurgaon & your driver Vinod tried to kiss her forcibly & even after registering complaint with you morons there has been no action, no update form your end," said the woman's brother in his Facebook post, that drew comments of outrage against Uber, which was banned for a short while in Delhi last year after one of its drivers allegedly raped a woman passenger.
He has demanded that Uber take action against the driver. "You people are pathetic, you still don't have any mechanism in place," he wrote.
Uber said in a statement posted as a comment to the Facebook post that "immediate action has already been taken" against the driver, even as it investigates the complaint. It did not specify what action had been taken.
"Our team immediately reached out to the rider via phone within minutes of receiving the feedback....Uber has a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour and immediate action has already been taken with the driver partner even while the matter is being thoroughly investigated," the company said.
The Gurgaon police said on Monday that a complaint has been registered in connection with the incident and that "officials of Uber have been requested for the relevant information which has been supplied by them". The police also said that investigation is being carried out promptly.
After the case was registered, Uber said that the company treats "every incident of this nature with due importance and focus".
"This partner driver has a valid PSV badge and commercial license issued by Delhi authorities. Those require a number of verifications. We also conduct a background screening through our vendor First Advantage," it also said in a statement on Monday night.
In December last year, a 27-year-old finance executive of a Gurgaon-based company alleged that the driver of an Uber cab drove her to a deserted place after she fell asleep in the vehicle and raped her.
Uber's service was suspended for some time. It has claimed that it has significantly ramped up security measures and set in place mechanisms to ensure passengers' safety, including more stringent back ground checks for drivers.