Delhi laws require all cabs to have an onboard GPS: "The vehicle must be fitted with GPS/GPRS based tracking devises which must be in constant communication with the Central Control unit while the vehicles is on duty."
Uber didn't even have an on-board always on GPS, their only way to track is through mobile app; which the driver conveniently turned off.
How about, the crime wouldn't have committed if the rapist didn't rape? Taking the blame away from him is as dumb as blaming the victim.
You want a Minority Report-esque flying police department that drops themselves onto the road if the driver veers off route?
It seems common sense that a GPS unit, even one that cannot be disabled, would only be useful as evidence to follow up on after an alleged crime took place. I don't see any way to use it to prevent a crime happening in the first place.
Look, I'm not trying to be dense here. But the idea that the crime would not have happened if Uber cars had undisableable GPS doesn't seem totally well thought out. After all, "you switched off your phone GPS between these times with someone in the car" is nearly as damning as "you pulled over into a quiet area and the car stopped for a while before it drove onwards".
Additionally, I thought Uber tracks drivers through the customers GPS? That's how they know the car took a longer than expected route? If they relied on the drivers app to self-report it'd only be a matter of time until someone made an app that fed false data to Uber and started selling it to bent cabbies.
Quick disclaimer: clearly, given what you said, Uber needs to dramatically change how it operates in India, and thorough background checks are hugely important for a commercial transport service. I'm just wondering if it would have been enough to prevent this particular crime from happening.