A woman named Tanisha Mallya in Bengaluru shared a scary experience she had with an Ola auto driver. She hired an auto through the Ola application for a journey that was about 25km long. The app predicted that she should be ready to pay between ₹347-356.
When they got to the place she was being taken, things turned ugly. The driver demanded her to pay at least 470 rupees. He also said he had been driving for over 45km. Tanisha denied to pay extra as she said the driver should discuss this with Ola and not her.
The driver then got very angry. He stepped out of the auto and began to shout and swear. He even threatened to take her back to the place he picked her up from if she did not pay ₹470.
Tanisha gave ₹356 and attempted to enter her apartment. But the driver continued to shout and use even more unpleasant words. Fortunately for Tanisha, her father was around to assist her. When she told them that the driver was cursing, the driver moved closer and exclaimed that she was lying.
Tanisha wanted to get assistance from Ola but they did not respond to her calls to their customer care. She then narrated her experience on X (previously known as Twitter). She told that she was surprised by the event and that Ola has not assisted her in any way.
The Bengaluru police came across Tanisha’s post on X and she was urged to get in touch with the police in order to assist.
Other X users pointed out that they too have experienced the same issues. They also argued that ride-hailing apps give one price upon booking the car but drivers charge extra at the end of the journey.
Such a story implies that there can be problems in how applications of ride hailing services function and in how they respond to customer complaints. It also points at the issue of passenger safety as well as the improper customer services offered by these companies.
