3 min readNew DelhiAug 6, 2019 04:35 PM IST
First published on: Aug 5, 2019 at 07:39 PM IST
Responding to the incident, Uber has permanently removed the driver’s access to the app. The incident has once again urged the need to question women’s safety in taxis. (File)
Taxi-hailing app Uber said it has revoked the access of a driver to its app in Bengaluru after a woman shared her ‘traumatising experience’ in a cab driven by him, and accused the app of failing to address her concerns.
The woman tweeted she had booked a cab and was travelling in it when she heard the driver telling someone over the phone how “bad” some of his customers were. He also told the passenger that as an educated woman, she should not be out drinking with friends. However, she said that when she told him to mind his own business, the driver started abusing her.
She claimed that she pressed the emergency button when the vehicle slowed down, but instead of calling her the woman said that Uber’s safety team allegedly called the driver instead. She claimed that her driver accused her of being drunk and she was forced to scream to be heard.
The woman claimed that the driver also threatened to tear her clothes if she didn’t leave the cab and the app’s customer care promised to book her another cab, However, the woman said that after she alighted from the cab she was left stranded with the promised cab not turning up.
She also claimed that the Uber support team did not contact her regarding the incident, and had done little other than refunding her fare.
“All Uber did was refund my money, which wasn’t what I was concerned about at that point,” she tweeted with screenshots of her conversation.
Reacting to the incident, an Uber Spokesperson told Indian Express, “What’s been described is unacceptable and violates our community guidelines. We have been in touch with the rider, and the driver partner’s access to the app has been permanently removed.”
Taxi-hailing apps were forced to install emergency buttons in their apps, and in the vehicles in some states, after a woman was raped by her Uber driver in Delhi in 2014. The Delhi High Court upheld the life sentence awarded to the taxi driver arrested for the rape.
(Indianexpress.com has reached out to the woman for further details and will update this copy if she responds)
Responding to the incident, Uber has permanently removed the driver’s access to the app. The incident has once again urged the need to question women’s safety in taxis. (File)
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