'Proactively' reached out to Gurgaon Police after incident: Uber

New Delhi, June 2: Facing fresh allegation of sexual misconduct by one of its driver-partners, app-based taxi aggregator Uber on Tuesday said it "proactively reached out" to the Gurgaon Police to alert them about the incident.

For the the US-based Uber, this is the second allegation of sexual misconduct by a driver partner in India. The accused driver has been arrested by the Gurgaon police.

The taxi aggregator said the driver involved in the current incident has no prior recorded history of any inappropriate conduct.

"We also proactively reached out to the Gurgaon Police yesterday to alert them of this incident even before an FIR had been lodged by the rider," Uber Delhi General Manager Gagan Bhatia said in a statement.

He added that this was done to ensure the Police were made aware of the Uber receiving the complaint and were given with a dedicated point of contact to assist with investigation.

The taxi aggregator landed in a fresh controversy after a woman passenger alleged the driver-partner tried "to kiss and molest her" during a ride to Gurgaon on Sunday. Earlier, another woman passenger in Delhi had accused another driver partner of forcing himself upon her.

The Delhi government had banned web-based taxi booking services, including Uber on December 8 following outrage over the alleged rape of a 27-year-old financial executive by a driver of the Uber cab.

The woman passenger alleged the driver-partner tried "to kiss and molest her"

The woman in the current incident registered her complaint over phone with an Uber representative following the incident. The Uber representative in response had said, "We have a zero tolerance policy for this behaviour and I assure you that our team is following up with Vinod (cab driver) appropriately and immediately," according to the Uber statement.

However, the woman's brother alleged inaction even after registering the complaint and demanded punishment for the culprit.

Bhatia said Uber's team immediately reached out to the rider via phone within a few minutes of receiving the feedback after the trip and deactivated the driver partner pending a full investigation.

"Over the last 36 hours, we have worked closely with the Gurgaon Police to share all relevant information pertaining to the trip including vehicle and driver partner details, GPS trace and feedback history, etc," he added.

Bhatia said the driver had a valid Public Service Vehicle (PSV) badge and commercial licence issued in Delhi, which had been authenticated by Uber's team, as well as a valid Police Verification.

"Safety of the Uber community is our highest priority and we would like to reiterate that Uber has a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour," Bhatia said. This is the second incident of crime against women involving drivers of the taxi-hailing app.

PTI