Maharashtra: District Consumer Court asks Uber to pay 20,000 to women who missed flight

A district consumer court in a recent order has held Uber India guilty of deficiency in services and asked the firm to pay a sum of Rs 10,000 for mental agony and Rs 10,000 as litigation cost to a Dombivli resident. She had missed her flight to Chennai as the Uber cab driver delayed her in various ways while transporting her to the airport.

According to media reports, a woman resident of Dombivali, a lawyer, had booked a cab from the Uber app to go to the Mumbai airport. She booked an Uber cab at around 3.29 pm for the airport, which is around 36 km away from her residence. While a car was allotted to her, the driver arrived at her residence after 14 minutes and picked her only after repeated calls. Even after arriving at the spot, the driver, according to the complainant, was busy talking on the phone and started the trip only after ending his conversation.

Thereafter, the driver also took a wrong turn and took the cab to a nearby CNG station and wasted around 15-20 minutes. He then dropped the complainant at the airport at 5.23 pm; by that time, she had missed her flight. She had to take the next available flight at her own expense. The complainant alleged she missed her flight only because of the driver's negligence and unprofessional conduct. The female passenger then filed a petition in the consumer court. During the hearing, Uber India argued that it is a cab aggregator and not the owner of the cab. The company only establishes contact between the passenger and the cab drivers. Even the cab driver is not under the company. Rejecting the arguments of Uber India, the court ruled in favor of the woman. The court said that the app with which the woman had booked the cab belonged to Uber. So Uber is responsible for this. The consumer court directed Uber to pay Rs 10,000 to the woman as mental agony and Rs 10,000 as litigation expenses.