'Rape' lawsuit should be tried in India or Netherlands, says Uber

BENGALURU: Courts in India or the Netherlands should decide the case brought by the passenger allegedly raped by a driver on the Uber network, the US-based company has argued in a California court where it is being sued.

Uber Technologies, the secondmost valuable startup in the world after Chinese mobile phonemaker Xiaomi, told a court on Monday that even though its head-office is in San Francisco, the entity that runs the Indian operation is a Netherlandsbased subsidiary of Uber.

Uber Technologies, seeking dismissal of the suit in the US, said it has no relationship with the alleged rapist or a contract with India-based drivers or riders who use the app in this country. The company has also stated that since the victim and the accused are both Indians and as the alleged crime happened in India, the Indian judicial system should come into play.

In December, a 26-year-old woman was allegedly raped, leading to a national outcry about the safety of services provided by taxi apps such as Uber and market leader Ola. Shiv Kumar Yadav, the alleged rapist, was arrested by the Delhi police and is on trial.

When ET earlier reported the case, it pointed out that the jurisdiction of the case filed by the victim is one major challenge that the victim may face in pursuing her claim.

"(Indian) riders and drivers explicitly contract with Dutch company, Uber BV and user terms specifically provide that a dispute such as this should be resolved under Dutch law, in the Netherlands--not under US law and not in a US court," Uber said in the filing to the court.

Three people with knowledge of the development told ET that the victim is seeking about Rs 100 crore.

"The motion is an obvious attempt at deflecting responsibility and we are confident that Uber will ultimately be held accountable for its actions," said Douglas Wigdor, Partner at Wigdor, the New York-based law firm representing the Delhi-based woman.