Cabbies at Mangalore Airport Harass Woman for Booking Taxi Online

MANGALURU: Taxi drivers at Mangalore International Airport (MIA) allegedly abused and threatened a woman passenger for booking an Ola Cab instead of hiring their taxi.

Sources in Pandeshwar Women police station said, a city-based woman had recently joined an IT company in Bengaluru. However, she had rushed back to Mangaluru after she came to know that her father-in-law’s health was in a critical condition on Friday.

As her family members hired an Ola cab online, she opted to go with Ola Cab from MIA after alighting from Jet Airways (9W815) flight.

Meanwhile, a group of taxi drivers rushed to the spot and allegedly prevented the woman from boarding the Ola cab. It is said the drivers harassed her and also snatched the key of the Ola Cab driver, manhandled him and threatened him of dire consequences if he did not follow their directions.

The woman also complained that she was chased by the group of taxi drivers. 

The reason behind the incident is said to be that Ola cab drivers charge a very low rate when compared to other taxis, which has a negative impact on their earnings.

A case has been registered at Pandeshwar Women’s police station in this regard and investigation is on.

The taxi drivers at the airport charge anything from `600 to `750 for covering a distance of 12 km from the city to airport.

The taxi drivers have been running a campaign against the people friendly Ola cabs.

There is a demand for the KSRTC to run their Volvo air conditioned buses but the taxi drivers had appealed to their political leaders against it.