Consumer Court Asks Uber to Pay Rs. 20,000 to Woman who Missed Flight

Uber: In a ruling, a district consumer court found Uber India to have provided inadequate services and ordered the company to compensate a Dombivli resident with Rs 10,000 for emotional distress and Rs 10,000 for court costs. She had been late for her trip to Chennai due to the Uber cab driver's several delays while taking her there.

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About the incident:

On June 12, 2018, at 5:50 p.m., advocate and complainant Kavita Sharma was scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Chennai. At 3:29 pm, she reserved an Uber cab to take her to the airport, which is around 36 kilometres away from her home.

Even though she was given a car, the driver didn't pick her up until after 14 minutes had passed and several calls had been made. According to the complainant, the driver was on the phone even after arriving at the destination and started the journey only after finishing it.
The driver then spent another 15-20 minutes by taking the cab to a CNG station after taking a false turn. At 5.23 p.m., he dropped the complaint off at the airport; by that point, she had already missed her departure. She would have to pay for her own flight on the following day. Furthermore, the ticket charged was Rs. 703, when the projected fare at the time of booking was Rs. 563.

The complainant claimed that the driver's carelessness and unprofessional behaviour caused her to miss her trip. Uber repaid Rs 139, the difference between the estimated and real rate, after receiving a Twitter complaint. She sent a legal notice to the company, and after receiving a response that was "of little use," she filed a complaint with the Thane Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

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Uber India's Response

In response, Uber India said it offered an app for smartphones that consumers used to request transportation services and that gave driver partners and passengers a platform to communicate directly. According to Uber, its role is limited to creating a connection between a driver and a customer, and as an aggregator, it is not liable for the driver's default.

Each driver using the app is an independent contractor and liable for their own actions as well as any accidents that happen while providing transportation services. Additionally, it stated that the drivers are not employees of Uber.
According to the commission, the passenger uses the Uber app, which is under the company's control, to seek transportation. The business offers a service by planning and organising transportation with outside vendors. It is obvious that the company manages and controls the app, as well as all given services and transactions. The woman had used the Uber app to request services and had paid Uber the amount specified by the app for the transportation, not the company's designated driver.

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