On 11 February, Uber reinstated driver Rohit Gour, who had been suspended by the cab aggregator for taking a passenger to the Mumbai police on hearing that he was an anti-CAA protester.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Uber has stated that Gour will now be sent to attend re-sensitisation classes, which focus on good behaviour with customers, driving etiquette etc.
“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.”Uber Spokesperson
Uber’s decision to revoke Gour’s suspension comes three days after he was felicitated by BJP Mumbai chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha for what he did, and was presented with a placard that read ‘Alert Citizen Award’.
What Had Happened
On the night of 5 February, Gour had taken Bappadittya Sarkar, a 23-year-old Jaipur-based poet and anti-CAA protester, to a police station in Mumbai, after hearing him talking about the protests on the phone.
Sarkar had recounted the incident to The Quint, “As I got in the cab, I called a friend of mine and we were talking about protest cultures in different cities, what happened at Shaheen Bagh the previous day, people's discomfort with Laal Salaam and how we could make Jaipur's protests more effective. Ten to 20 minutes into the conversation, my Uber driver stopped and asked if he could use the ATM, I enthusiastically agreed. Minutes later, he came back with two policemen and that's when I realised he had gotten me to a police station.”
When Sarkar asked the cab driver why he had brought him to the police station, he says the driver had responded by saying “Tum desh barbaad kardoge aur hum dekhtey rahenge? Main kahin aur le jaa sakta tha tujhe, shukr mana police station laaya hun (You will destroy the country and we will just watch on? I could have taken you somewhere else too, be glad that I brought you to the police station instead.)”
The Mumbai Police has stated that after examining what the Uber driver had recorded, they found nothing relevant to be pursued further.
Uber Driver Rohit Gour: ‘Proud of What I Did’
Even when he was suspended by Uber, the driver Rohit Gour had maintained that he was proud of what he did. Listen in to his reaction on 8 February.
Uber’s Response
Uber had first acknowledged the incident publicly through a reply to activist Kavita Krishnan’s tweets about the incident.
On 6 February, Krishnan had shared a message from Sarkar recounting what had happened. Uber responded by saying, “This is concerning. We'd like to address this on priority. Kindly share the registered details from which the trip was requested.”
Uber had then contacted Sarkar and later 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.
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