Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police on Friday issued an advisory to all cab aggregators to forbid their drivers from taking alternate routes to the Kempegowda International Airport between 7 pm and 7 am.
The advisory came after a 32-year-old woman was forced to alight from an Ola cab on Monday as the driver refused to heed her request to take the tolled Ballari road.
The woman was on the way to her Indiranagar home from the Kempegowda International Airport when she realised that the cabbie had taken the route through Begur Road instead NH-44.
He refused to turn around even when the woman, who is a senior manager with a software company, asked him to turn around and said that he was only following the map. She was then asked to alight around 3.30 am on a deserted road after she pressed the emergency button on the Ola app.
"I was reminded of the Kolkata woman who was murdered around the same time on July 31," she was quoted by Times of India as saying. The cab aggregator, however, did little to help the woman when she attempted to reach out to a supervisor. She is said to have been put on hold after which the caller just hung up.
She then asked a friend, returning home after having taken the same trip back, to pick her up from the desolated place.
Speaking about the incident, an Ola spokesperson said, "Safety of customers is a top priority for us and we have taken several proactive measures in this regard such as multiple levels of driver verification, 24/7 helpline, in-app emergency button to name a few. We are closely working with the authorities to further integrate solutions that will help create a safe and reliable mobility experience in our cities."
He further added, "As per the advisory issued by the authorities, we have issued strict instructions to all driver-partners to access the city only through the toll-road; any deviations will lead to immediate termination from the platform.”
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