Recently, a Reddit user, known as “@kushpyro1,” shared a terrifying experience with an Uber driver on the early hours of December 14. The incident has since gone viral as she prepared for a ride to Anand Vihar Terminal Railway Station in Delhi.
She had booked a priority cab via Uber around 4 in the morning for her train journey. While bringing her luggage downstairs, she decided to check her Uber app to find the OTP of the ride, when she noticed a disconcerting message from the driver.
Uber Driver Freighting Behaviour (14th December)
byu/kushpyro1 ingurgaon
In the chat, she had told the driver about her destination, saying, “I am here. Anand Vihar Terminal drop. Please come.” To her shock, the driver replied, “Go to Anand Vihar. I want to go to kidnap you happily.”
She became alarmed, canceled the ride, and rushed back into her house. “I don‘t know what impulse kicked into me, but I thought to cancel the cab. When I began to cancel, he canceled himself,” she said in a post on Reddit, adding that she was able to capture a screenshot of the conversation just before it disappeared.
While some Redditors in the comment section mentioned that the word might be a mistranslation, the woman added that she had tried most of the language translation platforms and nothing matched the freakish answer. “I have checked over eight native language queries to English, and nothing translates to ‘kidnap‘ except the word ‘apaharan,'” she explained.
The woman filed a complaint against the driver, and also shared all his details with Uber. Uber‘s response team ensured her that he would be blocked permanently from her account and that they would contact him to understand the situation.
The cab service, Uber, responded saying that disciplinary action would not only be given, but they could even train the driver to the effect of his words and terminate his account entirely. “We will take steps to prevent such bizarre incidents from happening in the future,” the woman quoted Uber‘s response.
The disturbing report has caused a huge outcry among passengers over the safety of taxi rides. Many people advocated for strict screening and training of taxi drivers, while others asked fellow passengers to be onthe lookout and report any suspicious behavior right away.
This incident is a reminder of the need for ride-hailing services to givepriority to their users‘ security.
