A Bengaluru woman shared a harrowing and unsettling experience while travelling with Ola recently. According to her X (formerly Twitter) post, the Ola auto driver asked her to pay more than what the app showed. When she refused, he started yelling and swearing at her and even created a scene in front of her apartment building. When she tried to file a complaint against him, she couldn’t get through Ola’s customer service. Scroll on to learn about the entire incident.
Bengaluru Woman Shares Unsettling Experience With Ola Auto Driver
I had a very harrowing and unsettling experience with my @Olacabs booking today in Bangalore
I had booked an Ola Auto which showed a fare range of Rs 347-356 for a ~25km journey(adding the rest as a thread of tweets below)
— Tanisha Mallya (@tanisha_mallya) July 10, 2024
Bengaluru-based Tanisha Mallya took an Ola auto to reach home recently. While booking, the app showed a fare range of ₹347-356 for covering about 25 kilometres. However, when she reached home, the Ola auto driver demanded a payment of ₹470 as he, apparently, drove 45 kilometres to reach her destination.
When I fought back that he should take this up w/ Ola not me, he got out of the vehicle & started using swear words and asked me to get back in the auto so he can “leave me where he picked me up” & that I should raise an issue w/ customer support if I don’t want to pay him Rs470
— Tanisha Mallya (@tanisha_mallya) July 10, 2024
When she tried explaining and showing that the app showed a ride bill of ₹356 on both of their apps, he started arguing with her. When he refused to budge and continued pestering her, she fought back. After this, the Ola auto driver got out of the vehicle and yelled and hurled swear words at her. To avoid any further altercation, the woman paid ₹356 and started walking towards her home. Seeing this, the auto driver started creating a scene that forced her to call in her father.
This a deeply shocking situation & I have not been able to get any support from @Olacabs so far, not even a chance to speak to their customer care
— Tanisha Mallya (@tanisha_mallya) July 10, 2024
After coming home, she tried filing a complaint against the auto driver. However, she has not received any support from Ola customer care yet. In fact, she couldn’t even file a complaint as she could not find the invoice or the driver’s details in her Ola history section.
In a series of posts, she mentioned how this was a very concerning incident. According to her, she was able to argue with the auto driver because she knew Kannada, was near her home and lived with her family, and the entire ordeal happened during the evening. She says it would have been a fearful situation for any other woman who doesn’t speak the language or lives alone.
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Netizens React To The Entire Incident
Seeing the post, a lot of Netizens responded and reacted to it. While some shared similar incidents, others gave alternative cab options and urged the Bengaluru woman to file a case against the driver. The Bengaluru Police also reacted to the post and asked the lady for more details on this incident.
Please provide your specific area details and your contact number via DM.
— ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಗರ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) July 10, 2024
Here are some comments you cannot miss out on this post.
File harassment case under sections 503, 354, 354D, 509 IPC. Prima facie all these sections apply in this case.
— notional_reality (@turning_axis) July 11, 2024
@rapidobikeapp is worse. Both #ola and #rapido have zero concern for customers safety,
— Anshul Agrawal (@anshul9) July 11, 2024
Drivers (both auto & taxi) in Bangalore have always been aggressive. It’s been that way for over 40+ yrs & it’s gotten worse. With the slightest hint of a red flag, I call their emergency number. I never engage with drivers, instead let Ola/Uber customer care staff deal with…
— Raj Varma (@jaimaa) July 11, 2024
Due to this issue I stopped using @Olacabs and started using @nammayatri or @Uber_India … I don’t know why Ola always fails to help customers
— gulrez sharief (@gulrezsharief) July 10, 2024
Once in Bangalore my 11 yr old son n I wr picked up by an Ola cab driver , completely inebriated. He refused to start the AC in spite ofbooking prime Ola @Olacabs has upgraded me to a higher one . Worst – when he turned to argue his eyes were blood shot and he looked scary !
— Dr . Surhuda Sanghvi (@yelosubmarine) July 11, 2024
It’s been ages since I have stopped using @Olacabs and none of my known friends/family use it.
— Vaibhav (@vibhs999) July 11, 2024
Happened with me once, driver asked to pay 50 rs more, since there was more traffic
— Aditya Jha (@ad1tyajha) July 11, 2024
This is a new scam by an auto driver. They intentionally drive via a longer route so that ola’s algo calculation has a higher fare. With me also this happens , where my house was just 5 km. But the auto driver said that there a shortcut but he drove 11km and bill came double
— shekhar (@ishekhar90) July 11, 2024
This happens a lot. Best thing to do is pay these aggressive drivers the amount they demand for our own safety (using UPI only). Take screen shot of final bill page and UPI screenshot. Take it up with Ola support post the ride.
They refund the money and much safer option.
— கார்த்திகேயன் | karthikeyan (@ptrkarthikeyan) July 11, 2024
That’s really unfortunate. I understand the drivers pov too, but he vented it out on the wrong person in a very wrong way.
— Aditya Chakraborty (@adityachk2002) July 11, 2024
This incident is deeply concerning and does raise questions about passenger safety. We hope that Ola takes strict action against the driver to discourage such behaviour. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva & X/@tanisha_mallya
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