BENGALURU: Using app-based aggregators to hail a ride from Kempegowda International Airport has become a nightmare for many women. They claim that the toll-free detour taken by most drivers during early morning hours and late at night is often scary experience. “Despite collecting money from us for the toll, the drivers take diversions without our consent. We have to repeatedly tell them not to do so and many times they don’t pay heed to our requests,” said Ranjini Krishnamurthy, vice president of a company.
Several cases have been filed with the police against misbehaviour by cab drivers. CE spoke to some women who voiced concerns with the way aggregators are handling drivers who flout rules by trying to skip toll.
“Ola says that in case of a route deviation, the passenger will get a call, but no such thing happens,” rued Soumya Rangarao, a frequent traveller from Jayanagar. Ola, however, had introduced this on a pilot basis and is yet to implement the callback option in case of detour as a permanent feature.
Most customers either have a fight with the cab driver or constantly worry about whether they will reach home safe. This worry comes with reason, they say, recalling recent repeated incidents of sexual and mental harassment many women have gone through. Nandini Iyengar, a software firm employee, said, “The recent incident where a CEO had a nightmarish ride was all over the newspapers and social media and we have also read reports about how another driver took a detour and later asked the woman to strip and took pictures of her.”
The taxi aggregator, however, claimed that their customers are safe and that they have introduced various “preventive” safety features. In its official statement to CE after the incident, an Ola spokesperson said: “We deeply regret the experience that the customer (CEO) had to go through. The driver in question had been off-roaded immediately and has been blacklisted from the Ola platform.”
Meanwhile, Ola has maintained that customers are their top priority and they are committed to ensuring that initiatives like the in-app emergency button, 24x7 Safety Response Team and Ola Guardian help their customers feel safe.
“We have extended support to the police in sharing all information to help them with the investigation,” the spokesperson added.
Often, drivers collect the full toll amount from a single journey and for the return ride, use the alternative road to reach the airport.
The Uber spokesperson was unavailable for comment. An app based driver who wished to remain anonymous, however, said: “We have strict instructions not to take the detour and follow the road map but most drivers do not pay heed to it.”