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Bengaluru woman’s ‘unsafe & scary’ auto ride: says driver threatened, abused her over fare dispute; Cop responds
A Bengaluru woman shared her terrifying experience of being abused by an auto driver, igniting a discussion online, which prompted a response from police.
Early on Sunday morning, a woman in Bengaluru said she was threatened and verbally abused by a Namma Yatri auto driver. The incident occurred at around 4 am as she, along with two companions and a child, was heading home from a friend's house.
Taking to X, Vanshita Agarwal wrote, “had the most unsafe & scary auto ride of my life @nammayatri. your driver threatened us, called us ‘c******’ and ‘m********’ & started coming close to us almost as if he would hit us. SOS is of hardly any use, they listened to our plea & just disconnected the call.”
The altercation began when the driver disputed the fare shown on the app, insisting that the amount was too low. When the women insisted on paying the app’s fare, the driver became enraged, and allegedly shouted and abused them.
“He started almost cursing us and we got scared so we walked towards our building main gate to call the security guard. he came down from the auto and started shouting louder and louder. at this point, we had to do the SOS in the app and i contacted the police,” she wrote.
“He started demanding my phone saying ‘i want to talk, let me speak to him’. I did not give my phone to him because it would have have unsafe and we were terrified at this point. he started coming even closer to us and I told him firmly to not enter the gate or I will call my dad,” she added.
The woman then tagged the Bengaluru City Police and Traffic Police on social media, seeking advice on what to do when the SOS feature fails to provide assistance.
"What should one do in such situations? The SOS on the app doesn’t work and even the executives at 112 clearly DO NOT CARE. We were on a call with them in such a panic state and they have not even gotten back to us to see if we’re safe!" she posted.
“We could not record him because we were very scared that he would do something as a reaction. however while he was hurling the bad words at us, I did manage to take a 2-sec clip that shows his face. I want this man to face the consequences of what he did to us today,” Agarwal further said.
Ride-hailing app Namma Yatri responded to the thread and said, “Hi Vanshita, We are really sorry to hear about the experience you have been through. We at Namma Yatri take safety concerns very seriously. Thanks for sharing the details. Please do allow us some time to check this and get back to you.”
The posts also caught the attention of Alok Kumar, ADGP for Training, Traffic and Road Safety, who wrote, “Plz lodge complaint with the nearest Police Station. Action will be taken as per the facts of the incident. If there is any issue then plz let us know. @BlrCityPolice.”
Several social media users also responded to the post, writing, “This is scary” and “I hope you're safe.”
Bengaluru is facing growing issues with rogue auto drivers overcharging and abusing passengers. However, in a contrasting incident, an Uber driver in Bengaluru made headlines after he helped Sindhu Gangadharan, the vice-chairperson of NASSCOM, reach the airport on time after her car broke down, thereby receiving praise.
