Hyderabad bans Uber cabs after firm ignored warning against ‘rapist’ driver

Hyderabad: After Delhi and Thailand, The Telangana Transport Department started a crackdown on taxi/cab services on Wednesday operating "illegally" in Hyderabad and Cyberabad Police Commissionerate limits in the wake of a woman being allegedly raped by an Uber cab driver in Delhi.

"A thorough verification process is underway to check documents (proper licenses/permits) of cabs/taxis, if they are running their services as per rules and if they have registered with Transport Department or not," Hyderabad Joint Transport Commissioner T Raghunath said.

So, far 35 cases have been registered and seven vehicles have been seized during the drive launched in Hyderabad and Cyberabad Police Commissionerate limits in association with police, the senior Transport official said.

In the light of Delhi incident, all the enforcement staff of the Transport Department were directed to check the "unauthorised" practices of the private operators, including Uber, the official said adding "we are screening the cabs/taxis drivers on whether they are operating legally or not. We are also checking if the cabs/taxis are putting up the illuminated display board on such vehicles."

"Teams have been pressed into action to check if the travel companies are complying rules."

Over 500 travel companies have registered with Transport Department in Hyderabad and they are operating 25,000 cabs/taxis in Hyderabad and 20,000 in neighbouring Ranga Reddy district (covered by Cyberabad Police Commissionerate), he said.

"The enforcement will continue and we will focus on all kinds of private carriers, including buses and autos," Raghunath added.

The Telangana Transport Department has already announced that no permission was granted to Uber taxi services to operate in the state, he said. People, including cab owners and drivers, were advised not to be associated with Uber company in any form.

Citing a message from the Centre, the Telangana Transport Department said a criminal case has been reported against the permit holder of a vehicle associated with Uber company.

"In these circumstances, the public including the taxi, cab owners/drivers are informed not to be associated with Uber Company in any form. No permission has been granted to Uber Company by Transport Department of Telangana government," the Transport department had said.

"Public are requested not to hire any transport services through Uber company in any form, including web-based mobile applications keeping in view the safety and security," it said.

It further stated, "It has come to the notice of Transport Department that certain cab operators are providing taxi/cab services without obtaining proper licenses/permits from the competent authority."

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday had advised that all internet-based taxi services be banned in the country.

It has also emerged that Uber in Delhi ignored a complaint by another passenger, Nidhi Shah, who wrote to the company stating her experience with the same cabbie, Shiv Kumar Yadav, had been extremely unpleasant. This was just a week before before the alleged rape of the 26-year-old on the night of December 6th.

Read: Accused driver is serial sex offender

On November 26, Nidhi Shah had complained to Uber about Yadav who she alleged was ‘staring’ at her during the taxi ride. The mail from Uber executive Hannah said: "Sorry about what happened here! I've passed along your feedback to our driver operations team, so that they can check in on Shiv about it."

Meanwhile, it has turned out that Kumar, 32, was a serial sexual offender and was out on bail in a rape case in 2013 — as reported on Monday — but was also involved in a similar case in 2011. He had allegedly raped a woman in Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh last year and was involved in at least two more cases including molesting another woman. It emerged that Yadav was arrested in a rape case in South Delhi’s Mehrauli area in 2011 and had spent seven months in Tihar jail.

Yadav was arrested for separate cases of molestation in 2003, under Arms Act in 2006 and rape and robbery in 2013 in Mainpuri, his hometown. He has now emerged as a big time rogue of Mainpuri, a police official said. He has 8 FIRs registered against him.

Read: PM Modi takes case seriously, asks NSA to look into matter

With the uproar over the Delhi Uber cab rape continuing unabated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed his national security adviser, Ajit Doval, to look into the reported “failures” and take adequate measures to ensure that women were protected.