Uber drivers accused of over 30 sex attacks on customers in London last year
Uber drivers in London were accused of 32 sexual attacks in one year, new data has revealed.
The figures show one customer was assaulted once in ever 11 days, Freedom of Information data shows.
The Metropolitan Police dealt with 154 allegations of sexual assaults that involved taxi, minicab (legally booked or illegally picked up in the street) and private drivers, as well as rickshaw riders, in the year to February, The Sun reported.
Of those reports 32 allegations were reported in which it was stated that the suspect was an Uber driver. But that also means 134 attacks included minicab and taxi drivers.
"All drivers who use the Uber app in London are fully licensed by Transport for London and have undergone exactly the same enhanced DBS checks as black cab drivers, teachers and care workers," an Uber spokesperson said.
"We take any allegations of this nature very seriously – we work closely with the police on their inquiries and prevent drivers from using the app while investigations take place. Our GPS technology also means that every trip – more than one million in London each week – is electronically recorded."
Meanwhile, Uber said, which claims to be the "safest ride on the road", has come under similar scrutiny in the the US and has been baned in New Delhi, India, after a woman was raped.
At the time, Uber said: "We welcome this conviction."
In January an Uber driver by the name of Aliriza Kurt, 42, was jauled for 18 months after sexually assaulting a 24-year-old victim.
Read more: Uber to pay millions to settle US dispute over background checks for drivers
A Met Police spokesperson said: "The Met has a dedicated Cab Enforcement Unit, part of the Roads and Transport Policing Command, which is responsible for enforcing the law relating to taxis and private hire vehicles in London.
"It works closely with the Safer Transport Teams and local borough police on joint operations to tackle touting and other cab related offences, with a specific focus on reducing sex offences in cabs through detection and deterrence activities."
For context, ActionAid also published a report that showed between last April and December there were 1,603 reports of sex offences on Tube, trains and buses in London. That was up from 1,117 for the same period the previous year.