Uber Taken To Court For No Grievance Redressal Mechanism

A driver for Uber uses the Google Maps application in a taxi in New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Drivers cancelling rides after accepting them. Unpleasant rides. Higher fare at the end of the journey—many consumers may have faced such problems while using cab aggregators. But few manage to get companies to remedy their complaints.

Aggrieved by some of these issues, Advocate Savina Casino has filed a public interest litigation before the Bombay High Court against Uber India Technology Pvt. Casino is seeking a direction to Uber to set up a proper consumer grievance-redressal mechanism.

In its affidavit, filed with the high court this month, the cab aggregator has argued its mobile application is user friendly and that it takes all steps to protect its customers as well as drivers.

Casino's plea was prompted by her personal experiences of having to shell out higher fare and trying to register a complaint. Uber's mobile app does not have necessary facilities to place complaints, for instance, providing reasons for unpleasant rides. Customers are forced to select from the few reasons 'chalked out' by the taxi company. This directly interferes with the customers' right to be heard, the petition stated.

Uber is supposed to provide customers with a service email address to place complaints and also assign a grievance redressal officer. But the company provides an email which directs the consumer to seek help through its app, which is also quite unsatisfactory.

Casino's Petition

Further, Uber is in violation of the Motor Vehicle Aggregators Guidelines, 2020, which require it to establish 24x7 call centers with valid telephone number and operational email address.

The petition also claimed the company has not obtained a fresh licence to carry on business, as per the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019.

Basis the PIL, the high court issued notice to the Maharashtra government which endorsed the petitioner's stand on this aspect.

Despite the law, Uber has not yet submitted an application for obtaining a license, reads the state's affidavit, a copy of which has been reviewed by BloombergQuint.

The term 'aggregator' was introduced by the legislature only in 2019, via the Amendment Act. It made it mandatory for aggregators to obtain a license to carry on business.

State Government's Affidavit

As per the act, an aggregator is a digital intermediary for a passenger to connect with a driver for transportation.

In response, Uber, in its affidavits, has stated that post the 2019 amendment, the Maharashtra government has not issued any rules under the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act specifying the manner for licence application. As a result, Uber is not able procure a license for continuing business.

Even other aggregators providing services similar to Uber have not obtained any such license, it stated.

On the grievance redressal front, Uber claimed it provides a 24/7 helpline and support system, an emergency button in the app during the trip, post trip feedback, a share-your-trip feature and ride check, as well as redressal via social media.

In case of an emergency during the rides, the riders and drivers can contact the 24/7 Uber Safety helpline operated through the app, which connects the customer/driver to a phone number. This helpline is available during the trip and for 30 minutes after the trip is over.

Uber's Affidavit

This helpline has been used by customers over 51,000 times in 2020 and over 29,000 times in 2021. Drivers, have used this feature over 8,400 times in 2020 and over 74,000 times the previous year, the affidavit stated.

In its affidavit, Uber has pointed to safety and remedy features on its app to make its case-

An SOS button which connects drivers or customers to the nearest police station. If this feature is used, a follow-up call is made by Uber to ensure their safety.
A 24/7 Incident Response Team to respond to any accident that is reported.
The "Report A Serious Incident" option, which provides a form to the customer to detail the incident.
A Law Enforcement Response Team that includes a former law enforcement staff member, who directly works with the local police to assist in investigations related to the complaints registered.
Post-trip feedback option in the app. The website also provides an avenue to customers to complain regarding the following—reviewing fare, unprofessionalism by drivers, lost items, safety issues, vehicle issues.
Ride Check Feature which uses GPS to detect possible trip irregularities if there's an unexpected long stop during the trip. A notification is sent to both the customer and the driver to check if everything is okay.

Anyone aggrieved with the any of the trips can always alert the social media accounts of Uber via Facebook or Twitter, which are very responsive and active in resolving issues raised by customers, the cab-aggregator told the court.

The matter is expected to come up next in February.