Hazari tweeted that she boarded the cab at 11.31 pm from the Bangalore airport. However, the driver took a separate route than the one suggested by the app to avoid the toll road.
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Akanksha Hazari claimed that the driver took a route
different from the one directed by the app. (Designed by Rajan Sharma)
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Ride-hailing service Ola has
fired and blacklisted a driver partner after a passenger claimed she was
harassed during a ride from Bangalore airport on December 10. Akanksha
Hazari claimed that the driver took a route different from the one directed by
the app and asked her to get off when she told him to follow the designated
path.
“We deeply regret the experience
that the customer had to go through. The driver in question had been off-roaded
immediately and has been blacklisted from the Ola platform. Safety of customers
is our top priority and we are committed to ensuring that initiatives like the
in-app Emergency button, a 24×7 Safety Response Team, and Ola Guardian amongst
others, help our customers feel safe when they use the Ola platform. We have
extended support to the police in sharing all information to help them with the
investigation,” an Ola spokesperson told indianexpress.com.
Hazari, who shared her experience on social media, was contacted by the
Bangalore Police after they took note of her viral post. The police asked
her to submit the vehicle number and driver details and later tweeted that
her complaint had been forwarded to the Bengaluru International Airport
Police Station.
2nights ago, Dec 10 night, bet 11-2am I was harassed & nearly assaulted on an @Olacabs ride from Bangalore Airport>City. I am sharing my story because after 3days of followup, I have received no update & in fact been charged for the scariest ride of my life.This is what happened
2,065 people are talking about this
Hazari tweeted that she boarded
the cab at 11.31 pm from the Bangalore airport. However, the driver
took a separate route than the one suggested by the app to avoid the toll
road. She described the road as “narrow, long and unlit”. When she asked the
driver to turn around, he claimed to have no cash to pay the toll.
“I was alone in the car and at
this point past midnight felt uneasy about this route. I asked the driver to
please turn around and go back to the toll road and follow the route directed
by the app,” she tweeted. “The driver became aggressive and told me to get out
of the car. I protested. How can he leave me on the side of a dark back road,
in the middle of the night? All I saw was darkness and a few men loitering,”
she said explaining her ordeal.
After the driver didn’t budge,
Hazari said she pressed the Ola emergency button. Hazari said she then
received a call from an Ola safety executive, who assured her that the ride was
being tracked. “He promised if there was any deviation from my route he would
contact me immediately. I believed him and continued on the trip.”
A few moments later, Hazari said
the driver started making calls and after repeated objections, he stopped the
vehicle at a desolate spot. “I politely asked him if he could not make calls
while driving. Like every woman, I was wary of who he could call at this time
of night. He spoke in Kannada so I couldn’t understand the conversations,” she
tweeted.
With the car not moving,
Hazari pressed the emergency button 10 times in panic but received no
response. “I am also wondering where the Ola Safety Exec who promised to be
tracking my ride is. The car has been stopped for a few minutes now. He would
see that if he was tracking the ride. But no call,” Hazari narrated.
Explaining the delay in
contacting the passenger, the Ola spokesperson said it was due to both of them
calling at the same time. “The Ola team was tracking the cab. After the
cab had stopped, Ola tried calling but at the same time, she was also dialing
the executive. So both of them were calling each other at the same time and the
call was not connecting,” he told the indianexpress.com.
Hazari then dialed 100 and gave
the details of her car but was unable to spot the exact location to the police.
Moments later, when she finally managed to contact the executive, he spoke to
the driver and continued to stay online via the speaker until she was dropped
at her location.
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