)
Far from being a ghost organisation without a local presence, which it was made out to be, San Francisco-based taxi-hailing application Uber had incorporated a subsidiary in India in August 2013. That was around when the first of its cabs had started services in Bengaluru. Uber India Systems, based in Navi Mumbai, had co-founder and global chief Travis Kalanick on its board as a director till recently, according to documents filed by the company to the Union corporate affairs ministry.
But, Kalanick and Uber’s head of global operations, Ryan Graves, stepped down from the board of the subsidiary on November 19, 2014, days before the company’s troubles with Indian authorities reached a flashpoint, after an alleged rape involving an Uber-affiliated driver in Delhi.
The resignation of the global top team came shortly after Uber India had announced its tie-up with mobile wallet Paytm on November 12, 2014. The partnership was entered into because of a Reserve Bank of India ultimatum to Uber to make its payment systems compliant with Indian laws.
The details could assume significance as the Delhi police set about investigating the second of two cases registered after the alleged rape on December 4, 2014. The first case was related to the rape charge against Uber-affiliated driver Shiv Kumar Yadav. The second case was against the company under Sections 188 (disobedience of order promulgated by a public servant) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, for allegedly failing to provide adequate safety measures and other failures.
According to police sources, investigation in the second case is not complete, as officers were busy with the rape case. Officers are seeing if Uber did due diligence in roping in drivers and whether the company misrepresented any information on its app and website. “We will look into all angles, including the resignations of the company’s directors weeks before the rape incident,” said a police official involved in the probe.
The investigators are planning to write to the company for details of the persons responsible for its Indian operations. “As of now, no one from Uber has been named in the FIR (First Information Report), but their names can be included, if we find their culpability,” added the official.
In a response to an e-mail seeking details about the board overhaul, an Uber spokesperson said: “This was a routine change, in process for months.” He did not answer questions on the reasons for the changes and the credentials of the new directors. The company also did not comment on the status of the legal proceedings instituted after the alleged rape.
The replacement of the board members was not only a common corporate practice, but such replacements occurred over time at a number of Uber’s country-specific entities, as it hired more senior executives in San Francisco, the Uber spokesperson said in a later response.
According to the first annual report of Uber India, for the financial year ended March 2014, Graves and Kalanick resigned as directors on November 19, two weeks before an Uber passenger registered a police complaint of the rape by the driver affiliated to Uber. Its third director, India-based Anup Khanna, had also resigned a couple of weeks earlier. Khanna is a practising company secretary based in Navi Mumbai.
“During the year under review, Khanna resigned as a director effective November 7, 2014. Further, Ryan Allan Graves and Travis Cordell Kalanick resigned from the board with effect from November 19, 2014,” said Uber India’s report dated December 22, 2014. The annual report named Kalanick and Graves as key managerial personnel for the financial year ended March 2014.
“Axel Martinez and Karen Sammis Walker were appointed additional directors with effect from November 19, 2014, vide board resolutions dated November 18, 2014. Further, Rohit Lohia was appointed an additional director, vide a board resolution dated December 5, 2014. Axel Martinez, Karen Sammis Walker, and Rohit Lohia shall hold office as additional directors till the date of the annual general meeting. The board proposes their appointment as directors on the board of the company,” it added.
While Martinez and Walker are Uber executives based out of San Francisco, Noida-based Lohia is the managing director for India operations at an accounting and human resources services firm, Global Upside. Martinez and Walker are associated with the finance function, with Martinez designated as vice-president and treasurer, and Walker a controller, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Lohia, a chartered accountant, is also on the board of the Indian arms of other Silicon Valley start-ups such as Nuventix India, Unigen India, and Quad Analytix India.
At the annual general meeting on December 30, 2014, Martinez, Walker, and Lohia were appointed directors by the shareholders. Netherlands-based Uber International Holding (UIH) BV owns a 90 per cent stake in Uber India. Dutch firm Uber International BV holds 10 per cent.
Uber India’s annual report, which says the firm is engaged in “providing marketing and support services to Uber”, calls UIH its holding company and names Uber Technologies Inc, USA, its “ultimate holding company”. The second Dutch company is named as a fellow subsidiary.
But, Kalanick and Uber’s head of global operations, Ryan Graves, stepped down from the board of the subsidiary on November 19, 2014, days before the company’s troubles with Indian authorities reached a flashpoint, after an alleged rape involving an Uber-affiliated driver in Delhi.
The resignation of the global top team came shortly after Uber India had announced its tie-up with mobile wallet Paytm on November 12, 2014. The partnership was entered into because of a Reserve Bank of India ultimatum to Uber to make its payment systems compliant with Indian laws.
The details could assume significance as the Delhi police set about investigating the second of two cases registered after the alleged rape on December 4, 2014. The first case was related to the rape charge against Uber-affiliated driver Shiv Kumar Yadav. The second case was against the company under Sections 188 (disobedience of order promulgated by a public servant) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, for allegedly failing to provide adequate safety measures and other failures.
According to police sources, investigation in the second case is not complete, as officers were busy with the rape case. Officers are seeing if Uber did due diligence in roping in drivers and whether the company misrepresented any information on its app and website. “We will look into all angles, including the resignations of the company’s directors weeks before the rape incident,” said a police official involved in the probe.
The investigators are planning to write to the company for details of the persons responsible for its Indian operations. “As of now, no one from Uber has been named in the FIR (First Information Report), but their names can be included, if we find their culpability,” added the official.
In a response to an e-mail seeking details about the board overhaul, an Uber spokesperson said: “This was a routine change, in process for months.” He did not answer questions on the reasons for the changes and the credentials of the new directors. The company also did not comment on the status of the legal proceedings instituted after the alleged rape.
The replacement of the board members was not only a common corporate practice, but such replacements occurred over time at a number of Uber’s country-specific entities, as it hired more senior executives in San Francisco, the Uber spokesperson said in a later response.
According to the first annual report of Uber India, for the financial year ended March 2014, Graves and Kalanick resigned as directors on November 19, two weeks before an Uber passenger registered a police complaint of the rape by the driver affiliated to Uber. Its third director, India-based Anup Khanna, had also resigned a couple of weeks earlier. Khanna is a practising company secretary based in Navi Mumbai.
“During the year under review, Khanna resigned as a director effective November 7, 2014. Further, Ryan Allan Graves and Travis Cordell Kalanick resigned from the board with effect from November 19, 2014,” said Uber India’s report dated December 22, 2014. The annual report named Kalanick and Graves as key managerial personnel for the financial year ended March 2014.
“Axel Martinez and Karen Sammis Walker were appointed additional directors with effect from November 19, 2014, vide board resolutions dated November 18, 2014. Further, Rohit Lohia was appointed an additional director, vide a board resolution dated December 5, 2014. Axel Martinez, Karen Sammis Walker, and Rohit Lohia shall hold office as additional directors till the date of the annual general meeting. The board proposes their appointment as directors on the board of the company,” it added.
While Martinez and Walker are Uber executives based out of San Francisco, Noida-based Lohia is the managing director for India operations at an accounting and human resources services firm, Global Upside. Martinez and Walker are associated with the finance function, with Martinez designated as vice-president and treasurer, and Walker a controller, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Lohia, a chartered accountant, is also on the board of the Indian arms of other Silicon Valley start-ups such as Nuventix India, Unigen India, and Quad Analytix India.
At the annual general meeting on December 30, 2014, Martinez, Walker, and Lohia were appointed directors by the shareholders. Netherlands-based Uber International Holding (UIH) BV owns a 90 per cent stake in Uber India. Dutch firm Uber International BV holds 10 per cent.
Uber India’s annual report, which says the firm is engaged in “providing marketing and support services to Uber”, calls UIH its holding company and names Uber Technologies Inc, USA, its “ultimate holding company”. The second Dutch company is named as a fellow subsidiary.
|
TIMELINE Key dates in Uber’s bumpy Indian ride |
|
