A civil court in Rawalpindi has temporarily barred Careem from using the word “captain” for its car drivers after an airline pilot approached the court complaining to have faced “humiliation and disgrace” over sharing his job title with the ride-hailing company's staff.

The order was issued by Civil Judge Rawalpindi Rao Ejaz Ahmed Awan, who ordered the company to submit its response by July 31.

The petition was filed by Labeeb Ahmed, a pilot by profession, through his lawyer Chaudhry Rizwan Elahi.

The petitioner stated that due to Careem's use of the term “captain” for its drivers, he has to bear the brunt of jokes as people often deliberately confuse his job title with that of Careem captains.

He said such instances had shattered his confidence and disgraced an aviation rank that is “attained after going through rigorous education and obtaining commercial pilot license from the Civil Aviation Authority Pakistan.”

The petitioner said that due to Careem's nomenclature, he felt intimidated when sharing his job title with people.

He argued that the title of captain should either be reserved for a pilot or a third-ranked officer of the armed forces, also known as a commissioned officer.

After hearing the arguments, the civil judge ordered the company to not use the word “captain” for its drivers until the next hearing and also sought a response from the zonal manager of the company by July 31.