Bombay HC seeks Centre's response on PIL over Uber's mobile app

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday sought the response from the Centre and the Maharashtra government to a PIL that raised concerns over the alleged lack of transparency in cab aggregator Uber's mobile application with regard to registration of complaints.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a petition filed by advocate Savina Crasto, claiming that the company's mobile application has no information pertaining to its contact details, wherein users can register complaints.

"As an app-based operator, Uber is required to comply with the statutory obligation and is bound by the terms and conditions mentioned in the Advisory for Licensing, Compliance and Liability of On-Demand Information Technology based transportation aggregator operating in India," the plea said.

It added that as per the conditions, the company has to mention either via its official website or on the mobile app a customer service telephone number or an email address on which customers can lodge their complaints.

The plea further claimed that while there is a mechanism in the Uber app to raise complaints, it only provides a list of options, which the customer has to opt from.

The bench, after hearing the plea on Wednesday, noted that the petition raised an important issue and directed the Union and the state government to respond to it and posted the matter for further hearing on February 10.