Around two months after a woman had to jump off a bike taxi on being allegedly sexually harassed by the driver, the woman has lodged a complaint with Karnataka State Commission for Women (KSCW) and National Commission for Women (NCW) against Rapido, the aggregator with which the taxi was affiliated.
She took the step after she allegedly ‘did not receive any acknowledgement or communication from Rapido with regard to a legal notice issued to them’.
Rapido has denied the allegation.
The legal notice issued by the woman’s legal team has brought forth several new revelations, including the claim that despite a deviation in the route by the bike taxi on the night of April 21, no SOS call was made by the company until about 30 minutes after the alleged incident. It has also been alleged that there was no response from Rapido to a tweet sent out by the woman’s friend seeking help, in which the company was also tagged. There was allegedly no response from Rapido until after the issue was settled, despite other aggregator companies responding immediately.
“We must bring to your attention another deeply disturbing issue... that my client has been unable to access the ride details from the night of April 21, 2023. Shockingly, we possess an explicit email from your company stating that no rides were booked on that particular night. This raises suspicions that you may be attempting to evade responsibility by deliberately erasing evidence of platform usage prior to the incident. However, it is crucial to note that you have explicitly admitted, on multiple occasions, that the incident of sexual harassment and abduction occurred on your platform’s bike taxi,” said Shrreyans Mehta, advocate, in the legal notice.
He told The Hindu that Rapido has not been adhering to many rules and regulations, which aggregator companies have to follow, including background checks and setting up control rooms for monitoring their services, despite several such incidents. “Their lack of acknowledgment to the legal notice shows their absolute disregard for the victim. We want a public apology from Rapido, and an assurance that they will properly adhere to the legal rules.”
The woman, along with her legal team, is contemplating filing a PIL against Rapido and other bike taxis in connection with prevention of sexual harassment rules, and compliances.
When The Hindu contacted Rapido for a response, representatives of the company said that a legal notice was sent in reply to the communication from the legal team of the woman. “At the outset, our client denies all allegations, contentions and averments made on behalf of your client in your notice insofar as they concern our client, and are therefore, denied,” the notice stated.
