Karnataka HC Orders Ola To Pay Rs 5.5 Lakh To Woman Harassed By Driver

The Karnataka High Court has ruled that ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola, must compensate a woman Rs 5.5 lakh after she was allegedly sexually harassed by a driver on the platform. The court’s decision was based on the interpretation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act), concluding that the driver could be considered an "employee" under the act.

The incident occurred in August 2018, when the woman was taking an Ola cab to her office in Bengaluru. The driver reportedly stared at her through the rearview mirror and deliberately positioned his phone to watch an obscene video, making sure it was visible to the passenger. Following the incident, the woman filed a police complaint and later approached the high court seeking redress under the POSH Act.

Justice M G S Kamal, presiding over a single-judge bench, stated in the order that the driver, based on his agreement with Ola and the broader interpretation of the term "employee" under the POSH Act, should be treated as an employee for the purposes of the case. The court emphasized that the intent of the POSH Act is to protect women from sexual harassment in all workplaces, and therefore, the definition of "employee" should be broad enough to include driver-subscribers.

The court further criticised Ola’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) for not handling the complaint with the necessary seriousness or urgency. The bench noted that both Ola and the ICC failed to conduct a formal enquiry into the matter, citing the pre-concluded assumption that driver-partners are not employees. The court concluded that the victim deserved compensation for the trauma she endured due to the company's negligence.

In addition to ordering compensation, the court directed Ola’s ICC to carry out an official investigation into the incident in accordance with the POSH Act.