In Bangalore, no cab or auto is safe for women - I do find the drivers in Bangalore to be more aggressive and unsafe than other cities. Uber has no safety policy or any emergency line that you can call. Ola is better because it has. But still, though, it seems Ola too, has compromised quality for quantity. I have been harassed twice by Ola drivers. The first time, Ola customer care assured me that it was a very rare occurrence and that it will never happen again. But now, I think they just have poor screenings for the drivers - more drivers on the street - more money for Ola. Ola and Uber is very apathetic to the fact that if a driver harasses a woman, it is foremost the Company’s responsibility - because it is the Company that is exposing the woman to an unsafe driver in the first place.
Now, I am learning to drive, so that I can drive myself. This is one of the emails that I sent Ola after a traumatizing event:
(I am not proof-reading the following account - please excuse the corrections)
When I was nearing my drop location, I realized that I did not have any money in my purse, so I changed my drop to an atm nearby.
The Ola driver asked me the way to the atm, and I told him to go around that small block.
When the car turned around the block, one of the roads turned out to be one-way.
So, I told the Ola driver to turn the car back a little and to go another way. It would have taken the Ola driver exactly less than one minute to reach my drop location of the nearby atm.
At exactly this time, the Ola driver got a call from another customer, and I think the Ola driver was telling the Ola customer that he would come to the pick-up location soon. The Ola driver had made another booking before finishing my ride - and now he wanted to get to his new ride.
This entire traumatizing harassment by your Ola driver happened because he took another booking, even before he finished my ride, and wanted to get to the other location.
Ola should not allow drivers to take bookings before finishing rides, because it leads to situations where the driver bullies the passenger(as it happened in my case), to get down at a wrong location.
So, the Ola driver finished my ride, even when I told not to.
I told him that I would have the money to pay to him only after he drops me at my drop location, which is the said atm nearby. I told him it is less than one minute away.
Then, he tells me that he will take me along his new booking, and then drop me at an atm on his way - then I can take money some other atm, and give him the money.
I told him that I don’t want to come along with him - this was drop location - there is an atm just nearby. I am not getting into a cab without there being any record or tracking of me being in that cab ride. Also, I am not going along for a ride, just to take an auto all the way back to my original drop location. I told him that the atm was just around the corner and that he just has to turn his car a bit back
At this point, he began riling up auto drivers nearby saying that I wasn’t paying the fare. Then, they began to gang up on me.
Then, I called Ola. At this, the Ola driver became very angry and he shouted at me, said "thuuu" towards me, and his hands tried to grab my phone, as I was sitting in the back seat.
Then, I immediately jumped out of the car. He wouldn’t let me walk to the atm too. He continued to agitate people around. Let me point out that he stopped the vehicle, which is seemed a bit shady.
Ola had cut my call. I had told Ola customer care to call the Ola driver and immediately call him back to headquarters. Ola didn’t do it. What Ola customer care did was to call the Ola driver, and then nothing.
So, the Ola driver continued to harass me.
Then, my acquaintances came on the scene. He fought with them too.
I was trying Ola and I finally got through. I again told them about the situation - and that the Ola driver was behaving dangerously and that he was agitating shady men against me. All of them were ganging up on me - physically surrounding me. I was scared and trembling, and still trying to not show how scared I was when I was surrounded by these men.
Still, Ola customer care did nothing. they did use fancy words though and apologized for my "inconvenience".
The Ola driver was paid off by my friend - I tremble to think what would have if someone I knew, hadn’t come on the scene.
I had booked a cab with OLA, not with this particular driver. It is completely Ola responsibility on what kind of Ola drivers that they are exposing their passengers too.
I was traumatized by the incident. I was traumatized because Ola exposed me to a dangerous man. Ola needs to have a better screening of Ola drivers.