Delhi HC refuses to bar Uber from running IPL advt against Royal Challengers
This story was originally published at 15:24 IST on 5 May 2025
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--HC refuses to bar Uber from running IPL advt against Royal Challengers
--CONTEXT: Royal Challengers against Uber's 'disparaging' advt on IPL team
NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to restrain Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd. from running a 'disparaging' advertisement against Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on an interim injunction plea filed by the latter's owner Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd.
The high court said that the advertisement featuring Travis Head, a cricketer from Sunrisers Hyderabad, does not call for any interference at this stage. Justice Saurabh Banerjee said that interference at this stage would tantamount to allowing the petition by Royal Challengers Sports.
The suit was filed against Uber India's YouTube advertisement titled "Baddies in Bengaluru ft. Travis Head", which has secured 2 million views. The petitioner said that in the advertisement, Head is seen running towards Bengaluru's cricket stadium with an aim to vandalise the signage of "Bengaluru v. Hyderabad". He is then seen taking a spray paint and writing "Royally Challenged" above Bengaluru, which disparages its trademark, the petitioner said.
The petitioner said the moment a negative comment is made, there is a case of disparagement. Uber India, the commercial sponsor of Sunrisers Hyderabad team, had used Royal Challengers Bengaluru's trademark while promoting its bike taxis, that too a deceptive variant, which was not permissible under law, the petitioner added. Even the comments of fans on the YouTube video left no doubt that Uber India was picking on the Bengaluru team, it said.
Uber India said the petitioner had a severely discounted sense of humour of the public at large. The advertisement was in relation to a match on May 13 between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad. The advertisement was just promoting Uber India's bike as a faster transportation alternative in Bengaluru's notorious traffic to reach the stadium on time, the ride-hailing company said.
In the advertisement, Head only says he is going to give a headache to the other side, Uber India said. The message is that Royal Challengers Bengaluru is going to be "royally challenged" in the May 13 match and that the public should consider using its bike taxis, Uber India said. The case is covered by commercial free speech which cannot be injuncted, Uber India said, adding that the suit was "preposterous" and Royal Challengers Bengaluru should tackle humour with humour, not with a lawsuit. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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