Indian court finds Uber driver guilty of rape leading to claims of Uber negligence
An Indian Uber driver was convicted yesterday of raping a female passenger in New Delhi last year. Uber was banned from operating in New Delhi in the aftermath of the December 5 attack, which sparked accusations that Uber failed to conduct adequate background checks on drivers, although the ban has never been fully enforced. The Delhi court found Shiv Kumar Yadav guilty of raping the 25-year-old woman, and he will be sentenced on October 23 after being convicted on four charges: rape, abduction, intimidation and causing harm. There has been a rising number of reported incidents recently involving Uber and Lyft, leading to claims of dangerous negligence, since neither firms use fingerprints or law enforcement to background-check their drivers, and Uber does not bother to interview the drivers in person prior to them carrying passengers.  

A Delhi court has convicted former Uber driver Shiv Kumar Yadav for raping a woman passenger in his cab in Delhi on Dec. 5, 2014. It held the driver guilty of all charges, including raping, abducting, criminally intimidating and endangering the woman’s life. Yadav’s sentence will be announced on Oct. 23.

The survivor, who worked as a finance executive, had taken the cab to travel to her residence in Delhi on the night of Dec. 5. After she drifted off to sleep during the ride, Yadav drove to an isolated area, raped her and threatened to kill her if she reported the assault to the police. Following the survivor's complaint, the 32-year-old cab driver was finally arrested from his hometown Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on Dec. 7. Subsequently, the police revealed that Yadav was a repeat sexual offender, and had been arrested for rape and robbery in 2011 and 2013 as well. The survivor had also filed a lawsuit against Uber in a San Francisco court but withdrew it in September.

The Delhi judgement comes only a few days after a similar verdict(opens in a new tab) in the US, where former Uber driver Alejandro Done was sentenced for up to 12 years of imprisonment in Massachusetts. Done had pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping a woman passenger on Dec. 6, 2014, just a day after the incident in Delhi.

Students leading a march on women's safety following the rape in December 2014. Credit: Aijaz Rahi

After the Delhi government’s subsequent ban on Uber in December, the ride-sharing app was forced to tighten its background screening of drivers in India, after it was revealed that it was not following the stringent seven-year background check that it conducted in the US. It also introduced safety feaures, such as a SOS button to enable users to contact the local police and an option to share their trip status with emergency contacts.

Following the December 2014 rape, Uber introduced several new safety features to its app in India. Credit: Saurabh Das

"Safety is a priority for Uber and we've made many improvements -- in terms of new technology, enhanced background checks and better 24/7 customer support -- as a result of the lessons we learned from this awful case,” Amit Jain, President, Uber India, said in a statement. Uber currently operates in 25 Indian cities, making it the American firm’s second largest market in the world.