Thread by @AkankshaHazari

2nights ago, Dec 10 night, bet 11-2am I was harassed & nearly assaulted on an @Olacabs ride from Bangalore Airport>City. I am sharing my story because after 3days of followup, I have received no update & in fact been charged for the scariest ride of my life.This is what happened

I got into the @Olacabs at 11:31pm time at Bangalore airport. The route directed the driver to take the Toll road into the city. The drive turned off this route towards the back road to avoid the toll, claiming he had no cash. The back road is a narrow, long and unlit.

One that I (& many women I know) are uncomfortable going via, especially at night. I was alone in the car, at this point past midnight, & felt uneasy about this route. I asked the driver to please turn around & go back to the toll road & follow the route directed by the app.

This is when things went terribly wrong. The driver became aggressive & told me to get out of the car. I protested. How can he leave me on the side of a dark back road, in the middle of the night, no alternatives, far outside the city? All I saw was darkness & a few men loitering

I immediately pressed the Ola emergency button & got a call back. I explained the situation to the @Olacabs Safety exec & he spoke to the driver. The agent spoke to me again; he said the driver who will drop me to the location & that the exec was now actively tracking my ride.

He promised if there was any deviation from my route he would contact me immediately. I believed him & continued on the trip, just wanting to get to my destination & out of the car asap. A few minutes go by & now my Ola driver starts to make a calls.

I politely ask him if he could not make calls while driving. Not only for road safety, but because like every woman I was wary of who he could call to our location at this time of night. He spoke in Kannada so I couldn't understand the conversations. He doesn't stop.

A few kms further down he stops the car on the side of a poorly lit road and turns of the engine. He continues to make calls. Now I am really scared. There is nothing around me. Again only a few men loitering. I am not from Bangalore and I don't know where I am.

I start to run through how I can get myself out of this situation. I am also wondering where the Ola Safety Exec who promised to be tracking my side is. The car as been stopped for a few mins now. He would see that if he was tracking the ride. But no call.

I immediately start to press on the emergency button again. 1..2...3...5...10 times, no call back. I call the police and give them the cars plate number. They ask where I am but I don't know how to explain it. The call ends and I have no idea if they are coming or not.

The driver is out of the car continuing to make calls in Kannada. I don't know whats happening, but I am now scared that I have limited time before whomever he is speaking to is also at our location. My phone is on 5%. I go into the Ola support menu.

*I* have to dial the service centre & explain everything again, in tears now, who forwards me to a totally new Ola Safety Exec. This Exec can hear my tears & panic. He starts trying to reach the driver who initially ignores his calls because he is making his own.

Finally he takes the Exec calls. There is a very heated discussion. After some time, the Exec speaks to me & says has made the driver commit to dropping me to my destination. Further I am to take the drivers phone & he will stay on speaker until I reach, like a remote escort.

This way the driver is also unable to make more calls. I take the phone with the agent on speaker. The driver gets in the car & the ride starts again. The next 30-45 mins are incredibly stressful. I am doing my best to calm myself and stay alert in case anything further happens.

In case I have to take action or even get out of the car & just run to keep myself safe. Finally I reach, leave the phone and get out of the car as fast as I possible can.

@Ola these are all the places you failed me:
1. How is this driver on the road in the first place? Your screening, training and safety processes are broken.
2. Why didn't your emergency button work the second time? It is not an option for this button to ever fail.

3. Where was your first executive when the car clearly had stopped? I trusted him when he said he was tracking my ride & he failed me.
4. How dare you charge me for the most horrific experiences of my life - claiming that I "completed the ride"?

Most importantly:
5. Where is your follow up? I had to chase you for an update on the status of this driver (& refund! that never came). I still don't know if you have taken him off the road, OR HE'S STILL OUR THERE PICKING UP OTHER WOMEN

This is not my first safety incident with you, but certainly the worst. Even those other times I have no idea what action you took with the drivers. You also always charged me anyway.

@Olacabs what are you doing to keep women safe, truly? Because right now, it looks like women are just a revenue stream to whom you do enough to *appear* to care, but you're just in it for our $ in reality. Once you have it, you're gone. @bhash @ola_supports