HIGH STAKES: With safety at the centre of their marketing strategy, the rape allegation against the Uber driver in India could threaten the image of these firms, whose investors include Japan's SoftBank Corp and other international names.
SINGAPORE/HANOI: A co-founder of GrabTaxi, Uber's biggest competitor in South-East Asia, remarked earlier this year that safety is so central to the online taxi booking business that some of his drivers feel like they are tracked at every moment — even when they go to the bathroom.
The Malaysian company and Brazil-based rival Easy Taxi made headlines over the past year by attracting over US$400mil (RM1.39bil) in investment. But a rape accusation against an Uber driver in New Delhi has thrown taxi apps under a different spotlight.
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