An Uber driver, who was suspended for up to 72 hours from using the taxi aggregator’s mobile application for reporting a poet-activist for ‘anti-national’ activities, was reinstated by the company on Tuesday.
The driver, Rohit Gour, was suspended by the cab aggregator as it had set up an inquiry after he reported his passenger, poet-activist Bappadittya Sarkar, to the Mumbai Police after overhearing his conversation on anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests.
Uber has stated that Gour will now be sent to attend re-sensitisation classes, which focus on good behaviour with customers, driving etiquette etc. These sessions are mandatory for all drivers before they start working for the app-based taxi service and Gour will be asked to attend them again.
“High-quality service is something we strive for every day. Following our internal review and to meet our standards, we enrolled the driver for re-sensitisation of our policies and community guidelines,” said an Uber spokesperson.
Gour was taking Sarkar from Kurla to Juhu last Wednesday when he overheard the poet talk about anti-CAA protests and recorded his conversation. The driver then made a detour to Santacruz police station and reported Sarkar, asking that he be arrested. Sarkar was questioned by the Mumbai Police and later allowed to leave around 1am.
“We examined what the Uber driver had recorded. We found nothing in our inquiry,’’ said an officer from Santacruz police station. Uber had then limited Gour’s access to the application. “We limit access of the driver [to the app] for a period of 48 to 72 hours while we investigate. This is for the safety of other riders too,” an Uber spokesperson had said. After the incident, the driver was also felicitated by Mumbai BJP) chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha for being an ‘alert citizen’.
