Uber driver given bail, company rides it cool
A dispute between an Uber driver and a passenger went viral on Facebook and ended up in courts with the driver being granted bail on Friday.
The Kaduwela Magistrate Sandya Kalduwa ordered a surety bail of Rs. 200,000 for the driver Diluk Karunaratne.
According to a report submitted to court by the Talangama Police, on November 29 around 9.30 p.m. a passenger from Hokandara and an Uber three wheel driver had got into a heated argument over the fare for the ride and ended up assaulting each other.
In the milieu both the passenger and driver were injured. The driver got himself admitted to the Talangama hospital and the passenger was taken to the Sri Jayawrdenapura hospital.
Police investigators said they were unable to obtain a statement from the Uber representative in Sri Lanka.
The Sunday Times also tried to contact the Uber representative but he did not respond. The United States based company with 22,000 employees in more than 60 countries and 400 cities, operates through an app.
The company displayed a lack of corporate responsibility. A visit to its Baudhaloka Mawatha office drew a blank as no responsible person was available to speak about the incident.
An Uber employee collected the journalist's name and contact number and he said he would forward the details to the responsible officials. The company however failed to contact the Sunday Times. Following which emails were sent to representatives in India and following official quote has been given to us:
“This is a regrettable and concerning incident. Violence of any kind is not tolerated on the Uber app and this kind of behaviour violates our community guidelines. After learning about what happened, we immediately removed the driver's access to the app. We have been in touch with law enforcement agencies to assist them with their investigation.”
About their support system they said that the only support system is the in-app that has to be used by any passenger in distress.
"If a rider needs to report an issue of a recent trip or needs some other assistance, he or she can access help directly through the Uber app. We have a 24/7 Incident Response Team of more than 300 specially trained safety experts dedicated to resolving any urgent issue or incident reported to Uber," the company said.
However, the app only links to normal services available in Sri Lanka including the police emergency service.
The company’s ethics, legality, social cost, passenger safety and driver registration have been questioned by several countries including Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary and Finland and also the city of London leading to a ban of Uber transport. In some American States or cities including San Fransico and California, Uber faces an existential threat.