Ola, India’s cab aggregator has run into fresh trouble, this time in the UK, after a media report alleged that the company’s terms and conditions asked "women to use their own prudence while accepting rides with the platform.
This staggering point was highlighted in a Sky News report on Friday, following which, the company said it was a "technical error". Ola claimed it never had such a warning as part of its terms and conditions in any of the markets.
So, where did the error come from?
What’s strange is that the “technical error” turned out to be a basic copy-and-paste mistake, which was picked up from Ola’s terms and conditions available only in India. We quickly ran through Ola India terms and conditions to see if the part about women taking prudence was still there and we couldn’t find anything of that nature.
This development, however, has raised new concerns about the process via which ride-sharing companies are getting licensed to run their business in the UK. Much to their surprise, the report quoting few council members, observed that “terms and conditions that are entered into as part of signing up for the app are not part of the application process.”
The report further quotes the council member saying that, “as the licensing authority, we are responsible for licensing the company but not a related app.” The Council has confirmed to Sky News that no action will be taken against Ola for this but Frank Field, veteran MP was quoted suggesting that the licensing process needs to be reformed for better understanding of how these businesses are responsible and liable for all kind of actions.
Uber was the other defaulter in the UK few years back, when it was deemed to be unfit to operate as a ride-hailing company in the country and given a temporary 15-month license only. While Ola was granted a five-year license by the Bristol City Council in September this year, without checking its app.
(With inputs from Sky News)
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