Driver had no prior record of inappropriate behavior: Here's full text of Uber's response to Gurgaon incident

A day after a woman passenger accused an Uber driver  of sexual harassment, the taxi-hailing aggregator has come out with a detailed statement explaining how they actually helped get the driver arrested within an hour of the FIR being filed . A 21-year-old professional dancer has accused the  Uber driver of kissing  her hand after dropping her in Gurgaon on Saturday night. She ran away when the driver tried to kiss her on the mouth, she alleged. Sources in the know of the investigation told Firstpost that the police investigating the matter have confirmed after due questioning that the driver may have held the rider’s hand for a few seconds longer than would be deemed appropriate for a handshake, which is grounds for Sec 354A of IPC. [caption id=“attachment_2135979” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Here is Uber’s updated response to the incident: “Our 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. We also proactively reached out to the Gurgaon Police yesterday to alert them of this incident even before a FIR had been lodged by the rider. This was done to ensure they were made aware that we have received a complaint alleging inappropriate behavior and were provided with a dedicated point of contact at Uber to assist with any investigations. 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. In fact, our team also helped bring the driver partner to Sector 56 Police Station within an hour of the FIR being filed to ensure the investigating officers were able to speak with him immediately, record an official statement and expedite their investigation. 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 and the driver partner involved in this case had a valid Public Service Vehicle (PSV) badge and commercial license issued in Delhi which had been authenticated by our team, as well as a valid Police Verification - all confirming this driver partner had no prior recorded history of any inappropriate conduct. Over the past six months, we have launched a number of key safety initiatives in India. Those include re-verification of all driver partners with the police, additional background screening with First Advantage, and the establishment of a dedicated local Incident Response Team to handle critical situations. We’ve also announced additional in-app safety upgrades including an in-app ‘SOS button’ so riders can immediately contact local police and alert the Uber support team to reach out in the rare event of an emergency. Our teams continue to work tirelessly to make sure that the millions of trips we facilitate in India every month provide a safe option in every Uber city.”