A 26-year-old woman from India reported that she was raped by an Uber driver. Uber is a service that links people who need rides with drivers who are willing to provide rides for a fee. The drivers are members of the general public who sign up to work for Uber as independent contractors. According to Uber’s site drivers choose when and where they drive and whom their passengers are.

Uber is a company that hires an Uber driver to Drive their Personal Vehicles and taxi people around

Uber Hires Independent Contractors to drive their private vehicles: Toyota Camry 2.2 LE 1997 by Order 242, CC 

An Uber rider can request an Uber driver through the phone app. Riders press the app and Uber detects the rider’s location using the GPS system on the phone.

The woman in India told authorities that she called an Uber car, was picked up, and woke up in the car. She had fell asleep during the  ride on the way to her home. She woke up in a remote area and tried to get out of the car, but the doors were locked. The Uber driver allegedly raped her and threatened that he’d harm her if she told anyone. The woman received medical care. CNN reported that the Uber driver who had been accused of the crime has been arrested.

Although authorities seized the vehicle, the driver had fled the scene. He is now in custody in Mathura. Uber spokesperson Evelyn Tay released a statement on the Uber blog related to the incident.

Full Statement About the Uber Drive Program

Our thoughts are with the victim of this terrible crime and we are working with the police as they investigate. We will assist them in any way we can. It is also our policy to immediately suspend a driver’s account following allegations of a serious incident, which we have done.

Safety is Uber’s highest priority and in India, we work with licensed driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option, with layers of safeguards such as driver and vehicle information, and ETA-sharing to ensure there is accountability and traceability of all trips that occur on the Uber platform.

 

The Uber driver program is targeted to people who seek a job with flexible hours and a supplemental income.