Uber fined ₹20,000 after lawyer missed flight due to delay by cab
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A consumer court in Mumbai has found Uber India guilty of failing to provide the right services to a rider and has ordered it to pay Rs 20,000 to the complainant who missed her flight due to the delay caused by the cab service. The court has asked Uber to pay the rider Rs 10,000 for causing mental stress and Rs 10,000 as litigation costs that she incurred.
The woman, advocate Kavita Sharma from Dombivli, has been fighting the case since 2018. She booked a flight to Chennai in June of that year but couldn't reach the airport on time.
According to Times of India report, Sharma said in her complaint that the flight was scheduled to depart at 5.50 pm on June 12, 2018, and she booked a cab for the airport, 36km away from her home, at 3.29 pm. But that driver arrived at her location after 14 minutes, that too, after repeated calls.
She further said in the complaint that the driver delayed starting the trip because he was on a phone call. While heading to the airport, he took a wrong turn and took the cab to a CNG station, thereby causing a further delay of 15-20 minutes, the outlet further said.
By the time Sharma reached the airport, it was already 5.23 pm and she missed her flight. Also, Uber billed her ₹ 703 for the trip while the estimated fare at the time of booking was ₹ 563, the advocate said in her complaint.
Sharma then had to buy a ticket to the next available ticket. And Uber initiated a refund of just ₹ 139 - the difference between the estimate and the actual fare, said the Times of India report.
The Mumbai advocate first sent a legal notice to the firm but there was no response. So, she approached the Thane District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
Uber claimed that it is just an aggregator and a facilitator for connecting consumers with drivers, the consumer commission found that the company was in charge of the app's management and all the transactions and services being used there.
It then ordered Uber India to pay Ms Sharma an amount of ₹ 20,000.