Uber has begun reviewing its operations in India after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched a probe to investigate whether the company had broken US laws by bribing foreign officials.
The scrutiny of the India unit as part of a review by Uber, for which it has hired law firm O‘Melveny & Myers LLP, will focus also on suspicious activity in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday. The company has notified US authorities of the payments made by its staff to Indonesian police officers.
The incident also forced the government to bring in measures to regulate the app-based ride-hailing industry, a step that made it mandatory for these firms to verify drivers on the platform.
The victim woman has filed a lawsuit in a US court against Uber, Kalanick and Alexander of violating her for a second time by “unlawfully” obtaining and sharing her medical records.
India is the last large remaining market in Asia that Uber has a significant presence, having lost to local player Didi Chuxing in China and merged its operations with Russia’s Yandex.
Interestingly, SoftBank, which has backed both Didi and Ola, is holding talks with Uber to invest substantially, a move that could potentially spark a merger between the two players in India. Both players are wary of a merger, unsure of which company would remain on top in the country.
Last month Uber named former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi as its new CEO after several months of hunt to replace Kalanick.