Bengaluru Autorickshaw Incident: Man Speaks Up Against Harassment After Booking Uber Bike

A Bengaluru man who endured harassment by autorickshaw drivers for booking an app-based ride has spoken up. On July 25, Thomas Simte ended up being the most-recent victim of the conflict between Bengaluru’s app-based rides and autorickshaw drivers. The Meghalaya man, who has lived in Bengaluru for over a year, requested an Uber bike from Indiranagar Metro Station. However, auto-rickshaw drivers present on-spot demanded he cancel the ride and take an auto instead. The 27-year-old claims he has never experienced something like this in any other place.

Simte told Hindustan Times that although bike taxis in Bengaluru often stop a few metres from auto stops, as it was pouring that day, he requested the bike driver to meet him up closer to the auto stand. When the Uber bike showed up, he was mobbed by auto drivers who demanded he cancel the ride. The autorickshaw drivers started pushing and shoving Simte and his Uber driver, which quickly escalated from verbal threats to physical assault. “One person pulled my bag from behind to get me down the bike,” he told the media outlet.

Simte continued, saying that at one point the rickshaw drivers began conversing in Kannada and that he got into arguments with the auto driver since his Uber bike driver was also from the area. He stated that when he observed other individuals filming the dispute, he knew he should also record it. Simte managed to get away by instructing his Uber driver to start driving. However, he alleged that while they were leaving, an auto driver struck him in the back.

He told HT that as autorickshaw drivers in Bengaluru sometimes overcharge their passengers, he prefers bike taxis. “They ask for ₹300 even for short distances, even if it’s a trip of 1km,” he continued, noting that not everyone can afford to pay that much, which is why he prefers Uber rides. He was heard in the video he posted on X, questioning the drivers, “Why are you harassing me? Let me go. If people want to take Uber, they will take Uber.”

“I have lived in so many cities, but I have never faced anything like this anywhere else,” he told the news outlet.

An outright ban on bike taxis has been proposed by the Bengaluru autorickshaw drivers’ union. HT cited union president M Manjunath as saying that bike taxis are prohibited in Telangana, Maharashtra and Odisha, so Karnataka should follow suit. “Otherwise, all the other transport except government transport will be completely shut down,” he stated.