Are you being willfully obtuse? They never said that a competitor did make such a claim. They said that it is not impossible that a competitor could have made a claim, so it's not unreasonable for someone to be, a priori, slightly skeptical of it.
Uber does have a strong competitor in India, a local company called Ola Cabs.
That is an extraordinary claim to make, especially when offered without citations. And especially when taking into account how India is effectively Rape Central. And yet you think he is being will fully obtuse?
Plus, it's not the orchestrator of the rape who is in question anyway. It's Kalanick's response, involving the alleged acquisition of the woman's medical records without her consent. And if true, that speaks to some despicable moral compass within Uber. Which isn't news anyway.
It's what Uber suggested, and presumably one reason they got her records.
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Uber executives discussed the possibility that the rape could be tied to one of its competitors in India — such as a taxi company or Ola, the largest Indian ride-hailing company — as part of a plan to sabotage Uber’s momentum in the region. One day after the rape was made public, Uber was banned by officials in New Delhi.
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Well presumably none, otherwise Uber would have exposed it. I'm just pointing out that it seems totally plausible for a company to hire someone to invent such a scenario. And especially in certain countries, it can't be hard to get away with it.
Uber may have been paranoid, perhaps because they know how easily they'd do such things? Or due to their general attitude?
Enlighten us, which competitor made such a claim?