The Delhi government, which is virtually the Union government as there is no state government to speak of, has decided to ban Uber, the taxi company that contracted the driver who allegedly raped a rider. Uber’s faults are two-fold: one, it did not do any kind of background check on the driver, and two, it operates almost in a secret fashion with no telephone number or a call centre available to the public.

However, is banning the solution? Not really, as it does not serve any purpose. The core issue is rape, not regulation of taxi companies, which is secondary in nature. No one denies the right of the government to impose strictures on Uber (or any other taxi company, for that matter) so that crimes are not committed by their contractors or employees (Uber has only contractors, and not employees like other taxi firms).