Delhi man slapped by ‘angry’ Ola driver in front of son: ‘Asked me to pay extra or whatever comes in the ride’
In a shocking incident, a Delhi man named Kiran Verma recently accused an Ola driver of slapping him in front of his 6-year-old son in a LinkedIn post.
- Mar 3, 2024,
- Updated Mar 3, 2024 11:02 AM IST
Late pickups, drivers demanding cash instead of online payment and asking to cancel the rides if cash payment cannot be made are some of the woes that many online ride-hailing app users have faced from time to time. In a shocking incident, a Delhi man named Kiran Verma recently accused an Ola driver of slapping him in front of his 6-year-old son in a LinkedIn post.
Verma said in his LinkedIn post that the incident took place last month when he and his son booked an Ola cab to pick someone from the airport. As per this post, the cab driver asked Verma to cancel the ride and pay him in cash, which the latter denied, leading to confrontation.
The post read: “The driver asked me to cancel the ride and pay him in cash. I denied and with unwanting will, he started the trip. He took a completely opposite direction from our house and when I said he replied ‘there’s a traffic jam’. We haven’t even gone a kilometre when he stops the car and asks me to pay extra or else pay whatever comes in that ride.”
Verma further recounted that since the driver started shouting without any reason, his 6-year-old son got scared and asked him to leave the car. Concerned for his son’s safety, Kiran dialled the Ola helpline and the police. After this, Kiran and his son were standing outside the car, when the driver took his bag and the situation took a violent turn.
“Meanwhile, when I refused to pay him, I clicked his picture with my bag. He came out and slapped me,” Kiran said. “There was a gentleman going (another cab driver) he came and stopped,” he added.
“But then the another driver stopped him. The driver took two goons along with him (maybe they had some plans to loot) but since there were 3-4 people by that time. All three ran (other two were on bike). I called #UPPolice and they came on the spot. But that was of no use,” Kiran further recalled.
He also said that the Ola executive with whom he was on suggested that he not pay any amount or talk to the driver. He also claimed that he did not use any abusive language when he was on call with the Ola executive.
“The guy over the phone suggested me not to pay or talk to the driver and that’s what I did. This triggered the driver as he was listening to the call over loudspeaker and again slapped me.” He further noted that the complaint he raised was closed by Ola within an hour and no action has been taken till date.
Meanwhile, the driver who saved Kiran and his son and took them to the airport said “no action will be taken”. “The driver who saved me took me to the airport and told me that no action will be taken on driver. Whereas Uber suspends such drivers and blacklists them. I was thinking to even expect a call from Ola but till date not even a single call from their side,” he said. He added that his son was so shocked by the incident “that he cried out loud as soon as we reached home.”
The post garnered numerous reactions and comments. Social media users called Kiran’s experience scary whereas some others shared their own ordeals.
“I also had same issue with Ola cab. He asked me to cancel the ride and pay into cash. I stopped using ola from last 3 years after that issue and their price for ride and all is shit. All the company and his drivers all are fraud,” another user said.
“It’s not surprising. This has been happening since a long time. When customer experience is far inferior to Business - refer Ola,” another user noted.
“I remember when I had an issue with an Ola driver a few years back, the only thing Ola call centre people were keen on was to stop me from registering a police complaint against the driver,” a user said.
“Nothing will happen to this Ola driver and even he knows this. These days #Ola is totally focusing on the electric scooter business. They have totally forgot that they have this car rental business also. I was charged wrongly for a trip for which i made a complaint to their customer care. They accepted and responded back that it will be refunded. I kept on waiting and now it’s more than 2 years and I didn’t get the refund. I took it to twitter but it was no use. If you go and see the msgs put on Twitter (now X) for Ola and Mr. Bansal then you will find that you are not the only one who is having these type of grievances. I have stopped using Ola completely from last 2 years and is using #Uber,” another user said.
Late pickups, drivers demanding cash instead of online payment and asking to cancel the rides if cash payment cannot be made are some of the woes that many online ride-hailing app users have faced from time to time. In a shocking incident, a Delhi man named Kiran Verma recently accused an Ola driver of slapping him in front of his 6-year-old son in a LinkedIn post.
Verma said in his LinkedIn post that the incident took place last month when he and his son booked an Ola cab to pick someone from the airport. As per this post, the cab driver asked Verma to cancel the ride and pay him in cash, which the latter denied, leading to confrontation.
The post read: “The driver asked me to cancel the ride and pay him in cash. I denied and with unwanting will, he started the trip. He took a completely opposite direction from our house and when I said he replied ‘there’s a traffic jam’. We haven’t even gone a kilometre when he stops the car and asks me to pay extra or else pay whatever comes in that ride.”
Verma further recounted that since the driver started shouting without any reason, his 6-year-old son got scared and asked him to leave the car. Concerned for his son’s safety, Kiran dialled the Ola helpline and the police. After this, Kiran and his son were standing outside the car, when the driver took his bag and the situation took a violent turn.
“Meanwhile, when I refused to pay him, I clicked his picture with my bag. He came out and slapped me,” Kiran said. “There was a gentleman going (another cab driver) he came and stopped,” he added.
“But then the another driver stopped him. The driver took two goons along with him (maybe they had some plans to loot) but since there were 3-4 people by that time. All three ran (other two were on bike). I called #UPPolice and they came on the spot. But that was of no use,” Kiran further recalled.
He also said that the Ola executive with whom he was on suggested that he not pay any amount or talk to the driver. He also claimed that he did not use any abusive language when he was on call with the Ola executive.
“The guy over the phone suggested me not to pay or talk to the driver and that’s what I did. This triggered the driver as he was listening to the call over loudspeaker and again slapped me.” He further noted that the complaint he raised was closed by Ola within an hour and no action has been taken till date.
Meanwhile, the driver who saved Kiran and his son and took them to the airport said “no action will be taken”. “The driver who saved me took me to the airport and told me that no action will be taken on driver. Whereas Uber suspends such drivers and blacklists them. I was thinking to even expect a call from Ola but till date not even a single call from their side,” he said. He added that his son was so shocked by the incident “that he cried out loud as soon as we reached home.”
The post garnered numerous reactions and comments. Social media users called Kiran’s experience scary whereas some others shared their own ordeals.
“I also had same issue with Ola cab. He asked me to cancel the ride and pay into cash. I stopped using ola from last 3 years after that issue and their price for ride and all is shit. All the company and his drivers all are fraud,” another user said.
“It’s not surprising. This has been happening since a long time. When customer experience is far inferior to Business - refer Ola,” another user noted.
“I remember when I had an issue with an Ola driver a few years back, the only thing Ola call centre people were keen on was to stop me from registering a police complaint against the driver,” a user said.
“Nothing will happen to this Ola driver and even he knows this. These days #Ola is totally focusing on the electric scooter business. They have totally forgot that they have this car rental business also. I was charged wrongly for a trip for which i made a complaint to their customer care. They accepted and responded back that it will be refunded. I kept on waiting and now it’s more than 2 years and I didn’t get the refund. I took it to twitter but it was no use. If you go and see the msgs put on Twitter (now X) for Ola and Mr. Bansal then you will find that you are not the only one who is having these type of grievances. I have stopped using Ola completely from last 2 years and is using #Uber,” another user said.