A woman from Mysuru has shared her shocking experience of being harassed by an Uber driver. The details of the incident, which started with a normal airport ride, and ended up with the harassment of her family, were posted on LinkedIn. The user’s experience has since created awareness and caused a stir on the employment-focused social media platform, also eliciting a response from the ride-sharing company.
The ordeal started when Nidhi Tara booked an Uber cab to take her family to Kempegowda International Airport. On arrival, the driver demanded an extra Rs 2,500 over the agreed fare of Rs 2,407.96 insisting that it would be used to pay for the tolls. She did not yield to this demand and this sparked a confrontation where the driver became angry and threatened her family. Fortunately, some people decided to act and stepped in forcing the driver to flee the scene.
The story did not come to an end there. The following evening, around 10:30 PM the same driver went back to Tara’s grandparents’ house–her pick-up point–and started harassing her grandparents, demanding money saying he had been defrauded.
In her LinkedIn post, Tara said that she was unhappy with Uber customer service since she contacted the company several times but never got a proper reply. “I am calling for urgent action. This is not just about one incident but about ensuring no other family has to experience something like this again," Tara wrote on LinkedIn.
Uber responded to the public outcry by issuing an apology and confirming that a specialised team was investigating the incident. The company added that they “will be in touch in-app as soon as they have any updates".
Tara said in a follow-up remark to the widely shared post that Uber ignored her concerns and handled the situation “casually." “Even after having escalated the matter on hashtag #LinkedIn, here is your grievance team giving me missed calls (my phone literally rang for a second and the call got disconnected the minute I answered), demonstrating how casually grievances are handled at Uber," she wrote. Additionally, the user shared a screenshot of her chat with the company in question.
Many passengers have shared their own experiences of harassment and unsafe practices by drivers, calling for more robust measures to protect users.
A user commented saying, “Uber’s customer care and safety services are severely lacking. I’ve experienced multiple instances where drivers have taken unsafe, isolated routes during late-night or early-morning rides, despite my requests to stay on main roads. This is especially common in Bengaluru and poses significant risks when commuting alone at odd hours."
Another person mentioned, “Uber drivers are very aggressive in South India. For all airport rides, they ask for an extra toll even when the toll is included in the total fare. I wouldn’t recommend taking Uber for intercity travel in South India. Whenever I take Uber in Bengaluru, they ask for an extra toll amount at the end of the ride at the airport. They aren’t being trained properly about the fare."
Meanwhile, Tara stated in another post that she and her grandparents were contacted by Uber’s Grievance Team, who assured them that the matter was being addressed.
They were also told by the company that the driver who was engaged in this particular incident had been restricted from the platform.
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