In the wake of recent incidents of misbehaviour towards woman passengers in cabs operated by ride-sharing companies like Uber, Express takes a look at the safety and other issues being faced by passengers availing of such services
Anitha (name changed), a 30-year-old woman, who arrived in the city along with her 10-year-old daughter is still not able to forget her traumatic experience in Kerala during her brief visit to the state last month. The driver of an app-based cab verbally abused her and kicked her out of the cab midway at Aluva.
Her fault: refusal to pay extra money to the cab driver.
Anitha had booked an online cab from Lulu Mall, Edappally, to Ponjassery in the city. Though the mobile app had shown the fare a Rs 340 to Rs 353, the driver demanded extra money to drop her at the location. As Anitha lives in Visakhapatnam, she did not know the route. As Anitha replied that she would pay the amount shown by the app, the driver got enraged and started hurling abuses at her. The driver stopped the vehicle midway at Aluva and pushed the woman and her daughter on the road along with her luggage.
As she had to return to Visakhapatanam immediately, Anitha couldn’t lodge a complaint with the police against the driver. As it often happens, the incident went unreported.
Anitha’s ordeal is not a lone incident. According to women who are forced to travel alone, incidents of harassment and abuse are not rare in the city. Most of them go unreported as victims are reluctant to court controversy.
The latest in the instances of atrocities against woman passengers by cab drivers is the bid to molest a 17-year old girl who hired an online taxi to reach her home from tuition centre at Kannadimukku near Kakkanad. The police arrested the driver Yusuf, 51, of Eloor, in connection with the incident on Sunday. He was charged under relevant sections of POCSO Act and remanded in judicial custody. A few days ago, the police had booked a taxi driver for allegedly misbehaving with a woman passenger during her ride from Lulu Mall to Panampilly Nagar.
Safety of woman passengers a cause for concern
Though online taxi services have become the favourite mode of transport for many in the city, the safety of woman passengers is still a cause for concern. Regular cab commuters told Express that they have devised safety checks on their own.
“Basically, we need to ensure our safety. I am a regular user of online taxi service and make it a point to verify the vehicle number, the model of the vehicle and the driver before boarding it. Also, it is important to report to the authorities, including the service provider, if a conversation or action of the driver makes us uncomfortable. This ensures that errant drivers are removed by the cab aggregator,” said Deepa, a resident of Elamakkara.
According to Jackson Varghese, president of Kerala Online Drivers Union, instances of misbehaviour are being reported from only a few drivers. “Majority of them are customer friendly. The details of the driver are available in the app itself. You can view his address, mobile address and the reviews of other passengers,” he said.
When contacted, an Uber driver said that they were appointed after a slew of selection criteria by online taxi service firms such as Uber and Ola. “We have to submit all documents of the vehicle including RC book, driving licence and ID card. Police Clearance Certificate is a must and we have to renew it every year. Besides, the company conducts a verification of the background of the driver without his knowledge,” he added.
Tiff with woman passengers often becomes abuse cases
Another driver pointed out that a dispute with woman passenger often becomes an abuse case. “The passenger books a popular destination like North Paravur, Kannamali and others. When we reach there the customer may ask to go two or three kilometres ahead which may not be displayed on the map. In this circumstance, there would be variation in the fare which was displayed earlier. The dispute later leads to a complaint of abuse,” he said. According to him, he had directed a woman passenger to wear the seat belt. However, she resisted it and they picked up a verbal duel. Later, the passenger lodged a complaint alleging abuse, he said.
