Uber directors booked after woman dies in bike taxi accident

The case was registered against the directors of the ride-sharing company for allegedly allowing the use of a private vehicle for commercial operations

Mumbai: Three days after a 49-year-old woman died when a truck hit the Uber bike taxi she was travelling on, the police have registered a case against the directors of the ride-sharing company for allegedly allowing the use of a private vehicle for commercial operations.

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“We have registered the case against unknown directors of Uber India Systems Private Limited,” said a police officer from the Navghar police station. “The complainant is Ravindra Gawade, motor vehicle inspector with the Wadala regional transport office (RTO).”

The accident occurred around 11 am on Saturday. Shubhangi Magare, a resident of Mulund, was on her way to Matunga on a bike taxi driven by Ganesh Madhav. “When they reached the Airoli bridge, a cement-mixer truck coming from behind hit their bike, throwing both off the vehicle,” said a police officer.

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Both were rushed to Fortis Hospital in Mulund, where Magare was declared dead on arrival, while Madhav was admitted for treatment. The Navghar police had booked the truck driver, Jawahir Yadav, for rash driving and causing death by negligence.

During an inspection later by the RTO, officials found that Madhav was using a private vehicle—a Honda Activa registered in his uncle Shekhar Chavan’s name—as a commercial bike taxi. Under Maharashtra’s bike taxi rules, private (non-transport) vehicles cannot be used for passenger services.

The police said that Uber had temporary permission to operate an app-based passenger transport service, but the company violated the terms by allowing the use of private vehicles. The scooter was registered with Uber without a valid permit, which is illegal, resulting in a loss to the state government, said the police officer. Uber had also not conducted any character verification of the driver, which posed a risk in terms of transporting female passengers, the officer added.

Uber did not respond to HT’s request for comment till the time of going to press.

Along with provisions of the Maharashtra Bike-Taxi Rules, 2025, the FIR cites violations of several sections of the Motor Vehicles Act, including section 66 (not having a permit for using a motor vehicle as a transport vehicle), 192 (using a motor vehicle without a valid registration), 193 (punishment for agents and canvassers who operate without proper authority) and 197 (taking or driving a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent or lawful authority). The accused have also been charged under section 223 (disobeying a lawful order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.