I booked a cab from Kilpauk to go to The Hilton, Guindy via Santhome. I specifically asked the driver to take me via Nungambakkam and he took the route via central saying the Nungambakkam route was jammed. Please not that this is close to a 4km diversion if not more. And instead of taking me directly to santhome, he drove upto MRC nagar and then when I shouted at him he turned back to santhome saying "oh sorry madam, I dont know the route".
This entire distance was punctuated by questions by him if I was new to the city or the area. Once I finally reached santhome to pick up a friend, this guy takes another devious route to get to "Le meridien" and tries to drop us there, saying that was the drop location mentioned to him. At this point the meter shows a bill of RS. 750, while for the actual distance(including my waiting charges) it shouldn’t have crossed Rs. 500.I was enraged and started shouting at him at which point he told me to get out of the car. I told him I will complain to NTL and not pay him a single penny. I called the complaint cell of NTL to register a complaint at which point this guy snatches my phone from me refusing to return it. After some hitting, tugging and pulling I get my phone back, by which time he has taken my friends bag.
Another short scuffle ensued where he broke my bangle. Luckily, a traffic policeman happened to cross that way and saw the entire scene. We drove in the same car along with the traffic policeman to the nearest police station(S1, St Thomas Mount) and I filed a complaint against this guy for indecent behaviour, forcefully holding our possessions(bag & phone) and trying to physically hurt us. I have never enjoyed seeing a guy being slapped the way I enjoyed that guy getting slapped by the cops. They stripped him and locked him up under minor charges.
The story doesn’t end there. I get a call from NTL 2 hours later apologizing profusely and saying I don’t have to pay cab charges, etc. BUT the want me to revoke my complaint against the driver(they claim to have already fired him).
This is the WORST cab service I have ever seen and I would DEFINITELY recommend AGAINST it. Especially for women, it is extremely unsafe to travel by an NTL cab given the horrible quality of their drivers. This cabbie thought "OK 2 girls who don’t look like they are from the city. easy to trick." He was planning on tricking us into paying charges of close to Rs. 1000 instead of Rs. 450 - 500.
NEVER EVER travel by NTL cabs.