Bengaluru Man Says Ola Driver Abused, Threatened Him To Pay Extra, Company Suspends Him

A Bengaluru man recently shared a shocking experience he had with an Ola driver in the city. Pawan Kumar, an X user, said that the auto driver abused him to pay extra. He added that the driver "insisted the app was wrong and threatened to hold me until I paid the higher amount."

The user took to the microblogging website on July 30 and said, "I had a terrible experience today with an @Olacabs auto. I booked a ride from Brookfield to Kormangala with a stop at Mahadevpura. The app quoted Rs 292, but when I reached my destination, the driver demanded Rs 455. He insisted the app was wrong and threatened to hold me until I paid the higher amount. He became aggressive, shouting and using abusive language."

Mr Kumar then called the police and recorded the incident. He stated that the officers spoke in Kannada and the Ola driver told them a different story. The user mentioned that the cops asked him to pay Rs 350 because the driver was poor. However, Mr Kumar added that the driver continued to threaten him in front of the police officers.

"I called the police and recorded the incident. When the cops arrived, they spoke in Kannada with the driver, who changed his story and claimed he was using the meter. The police then asked me to pay the amount but I denied then they politely asked me to pay Rs 350 saying that he is poor and asked me to delete the recording too," he wrote.

Mr Kumar continued on X, "The driver continued to threaten me in front of them that he won't leave me if I don't delete the pics or the clip as he knows my office address now and where he picked me from. And the cops still let him go after I complied, telling me to call them if anything else happens."

The man stated that he was "deeply disappointed" by the incident. "Drivers threatening passengers in front of the police, with no real action taken? Does not speaking Kannada mean I don't belong here? Also, Ola's support seems ineffective, as there is no support at all," he said.

Responding to the same, Ola wrote in the comments section, "This is definitely not the experience we want our customers to have, Pawan. To help us get to the bottom of this issue at the earliest, please share the CRN number of the ride and your email ID via Direct Message."

Bengaluru City Police took note of the incident and asked the user to share his contact details.

A few hours later, he shared an update and said that the auto driver was suspended and the driver accepted his mistake. Further, he said the company also refunded the extra money. He shared, "Ola asked me to delete the posts everywhere which I didn't."

Since being shared, his post has amassed over one lakh views on the microblogging platform.

"Don't delete. This is more common than most believe. What is shown on the app when booking and what is eventually asked for. In my case, the driver showed me around Rs 190 more (on his app when the ride ended) & I had to pay up. Ola gave me a refund voucher after I complained," a user said.

Another wrote, "I've also been through this situation. Sometimes it's just because of the app (technology), it shows a lesser price but the genuine fare is a bit higher. I always had this rough experience with auto drivers so I confirm all my doubts before the ride."

"Instead share the video here. This needs to be escalated. People are reporting similar incidents all over Bangalore," commented a third person.

"Never take auto from your home address, walk upto nearest cross/ signal. City full of bad experiences," said a user.

A person said, "Why is this becoming common now???? Everytime I book any auto, the fear that this might happen with me scare me to the core and why is police not doing anything????????"