In a judgement that has been widely appreciated, the Karnataka High Court ruled that a driver working for an app-based ride-hailing service or transport aggregator—such as Ola or Uber—is to be dealt with as an employee of the company, under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH Act 2013).
That means, a driver-subscriber of a transport aggregator such as Ola and Uber will be considered an employee. As a result, the Karnataka HC directed Ola to pay Rs 5 lakh as cost and an additional Rs 50,000 as litigation expenses to a woman passenger whose complaint against an Ola driver had not been acted upon as required.
Back in 2018, the complainant happened to book a ride via the Ola app to travel to her office, in Bengaluru. Not only did she find the driver staring at her through the rear-view mirror he went on to watch porn on his phone and behaving inappropriately. On being told to stop the vehicle to let her get off, he refused and insisted on dropping her to her office, which was the destination she had specified.
After the harrowing experience, the woman passenger filed a complaint against the diver on the Ola app. The company, however, informed her that the driver had been ‘blacklisted’ and that he would be asked to see a counselor and be asked to undergo further training. The company also sought that she close the complaint.
However, the woman wasn’t satisfied with Ola’s response and wished to see disciplinary action taken against the driver.
The company maintained that it was not up to Ola to take any action against the driver since it did not have an employer-employee relationship with its drivers. It also maintained that the said driver was a fraud who had no authority to drive the said cab.
The court, however, dismissed the arguments of the aggregator and went on to hold Ola responsible for the driver’s behaviour.
Meanwhile, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) has expressed appreciation for the verdict as it recognises drivers as employees of OLA (similar app-based operators) for the purposes of law. As per the HC ruling, aggregators are not merely ‘intermediaries’ as they claim, but employers of app-based cab drivers. That means, like any employer, these firms are responsible for their drivers and riders.
The company’s Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) has been directed to investigate the complaint under the PoSH Act, 2013, and submit the report to the district officer within 90 days.
