Woman alleges harassment by Uber cabbie

Team Udayavani, Mar 17, 2017, 2:38 PM IST

New Delhi: A woman passenger has alleged that an Uber cab driver harassed her and forced to get down midway during a trip from Mehrauli to Gurgaon following an argument.

The victim, who later narrated her ordeal in a Facebook post that has since gone viral, alleged that the driver even posed as an Uber executive over phone when she tried to complain about his conduct to the company.

In response, the company issued a statement saying that the driver has been “barred from using the app”. “We have suggested police assistance and support in the matter, as the rider may deem fit,” an Uber spokesperson said.

Police said that they haven’t received a complaint from the woman till now.

The woman said the cabbie first chatted with her and then allegedly started harassing and intimidating her during the ride on Wednesday.

“… Immediately after the driver picked me up, he started giving undue attention and asked me if I am going to my office and where do I work.

“I got suspicious at that moment and in order to avoid his questions, I started talking over phone. Once I started speaking on the phone, he increased the volume of the radio to the maximum. However, I didn’t confront him as I didn’t want any argument,” she wrote in her Facebook post.

She said that when she stopped speaking over the phone, he started to ask her “creepy questions like; “Madam, where do you stay and where are you from? Do you stay alone? Aap Delhi se nhi lag rhe ho, itna bhi kya narazi hain, aap kuch bhi nhi bol rahe ho? (You do not seem to be from Delhi. Are you offended? You are not saying anything).”

She also alleged that he started driving rashly when she asked him to be professional.

“I told him that I’ll make a complaint against him. He then asked me to get down from the car in the middle of the road and I had to literally get down from the car in the midst of the traffic,” she wrote.

In the post, the woman said, the ordeal did not end there as he started following her. It was only after she tried to read the cab’s numberplate and pretended to make a complaint over phone that he went away.

She wrote an email to Uber and got a mail saying that they would call her.

The driver, who had allegedly harassed her, spoke to her posing as an Uber exceutive, she claimed.

“Once I reached office, I called the same number as advised by my friends and resent a feedback to Uber in written.

“I asked the person if he is from Uber and he was first confused and then told me he was from head office. When I was about to complain, he interrupted me and told me that the driver has made a complaint against me,” she wrote.

While talking to that “executive”, she got suspicious that he was the same driver who had asked her to get out of his cab.

“At last when I told him that I am going to make a police complaint, he told me the same driver will not come to pick me up again…. However, he didn’t listen to me and told me he had spent enough time talking to me,” she wrote.

She asked one of her friends to call back on the number she had got a call from and the person on the other line told her that he is an Uber driver.

Uber said, “The driver has been barred from accessing the app and we are investigating the matter.”

“We have been in touch with the rider and notified her via email as well as calls of the driver being barred as well.

“It seems the driver tried calling her and posing as an executive. We have suggested police assistance and support in the matter, as the rider may deem fit,” the Uber spokesperson said.