Uber Responds After Woman Accuses Driver Of Manhandling Over AC Request In Assam

Reports of terrifying incidents with female passengers related to online taxi apps are increasing day by day. Frustrated and scared passengers share their plights on social media. A recent incident caught everyone’s attention when a woman took to the social media platform, X and reported that her Uber driver abused and forced her out of the car in the middle of nowhere late at night.

The confrontation occurred when the woman asked the driver to switch on the AC

She took an Uber ride in Guwahati which soon turned into a nightmare when she requested the driver to turn on the AC due to her dust allergy. The driver refused to do so stating that she hadn’t booked an AC ride. Then the driver asked her to get down if she wanted AC.

The woman further alleged that the Uber driver halted the car on an empty road and began to abuse her verbally. She also mentioned that the driver even also tried to manhandle her, forcing her to get out of the vehicle. However, frightened for her safety, the woman got out of the car on the deserted road and called for help.

Traumatized and hospitalised

The woman passenger identified as Maini Mahanta took to X (formerly called Twitter) and shared that she was traumatized after the incident and was hospitalized. She filed an FIR at the Dispur Police Station. In her post, she mentioned the vehicle number and wrote,

‘I was traumatised and was hospitalised later. We have filed an FIR in Dispur Police
Station regarding this. For the sake of women’s safety in Guwahati, requesting
@gpsinghips @Uber_India @himantabiswa to do the needful. The vehicle no is:
AS01PC7157”

Yesterday night, I booked an Uber Premier in Guwahati. I asked the driver to turn on the AC but he refused saying “I have not booked an AC ride”. When I requested him to turn it on due to my dust allergy he rudely told me to get down if I want AC.When (1/3)

— maini mahanta (@mainimahanta) December 30, 2024

After getting out of the car Mahanta allegedly tried to call her husband to enquire if Uber has any such category to complain about the driver. According to the woman, the driver abused her, tried to manhandle her, and forced her to step out of the car.

I called my husband to enquire if Uber has any such categories, the driver stopped the car in a deserted road, hurled abuses, tried to manhandle me and forced me out of the vehicle. Fearing my life, I got down and had to call for help in the middle of a deserted (2/3)

— maini mahanta (@mainimahanta) December 30, 2024

road at night. I was traumatised and was hospitalised later. We have filed an FIR in Dispur Police Station regarding this. For the sake of women safetyin Guwahati, requesting @gpsinghips @Uber_India @himantabiswa to do the needful. The vehicle no is: AS01PC7157 pic.twitter.com/oSpwhSqmS3

— maini mahanta (@mainimahanta) December 30, 2024

Assam Police took the incident seriously and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has instructed the Assam Police to take immediate action against the Uber driver under the harassment case.

Netizens poured their bitter experiences in the comment section of the post

Hahaha that’s state of all uber & ola even in blore.. even if you select high end premier service drivers are reluctant to switch on AC in the summer hot weather.. and abuse you for free.. both @Uber_India @Olacabs are interlinked as same driver has account in all the aggregator

— Sam (@Sam04000460) December 30, 2024

I have had a similar experience in Nagpur, Maharashtra @Uber_India nowhere in the app is it specified if the cabs come with or without AC. Yet the driver was extremely rude and verbally abusive so much so that i felt unsafe and had to exit the cab. Please look into these matters.

— veebeby (@bbgirlwddissues) December 30, 2024

I had a similar experience in Bangalore.He asked if i booked AC ride and there is no option as such.@Uber_India and when i asked him to cancel the ride he did not and then uber charged me for cancellation without providing an option to raise this concern thru app.@BlrCityPolice

— Dhiraj Gosavi (@dhiraj_gosavi) December 30, 2024

Hope you’re fine now. I wasn’t aware this issue was so common. I had a similar experience with @Uber_India in Jaipur. The driver was extremely rude and outright refused to turn on the AC despite repeated requests. Sadly, Uber did not address this issue at all 🙁

— Mounica (@mounica_sruthi) December 30, 2024

Similar thing happened to me, Uber drivers have become hostile and illtrained. Yest eve I booked a shuttle and it did not arrive till I waited for 20 minsThen I was offered an upgrade, after 35 mins when the cab arrived an after making me wait, driver threw me out.@Uber_India

— Vidusha Banerjee🇵🇸 (@vidushabanerji) December 31, 2024

Same in bengaluru , one one ride driver says there is no gas in AC so can’t switch on , on another ride GPS doesn’t work so will terminate ride in the middle , rebook and same guy completes ride on two different charges increased ride cost by about 100 Rupees. That’s uber!

— subhash babu (@surampally) December 31, 2024

Women safety feature is just a gimmick from @Uber_India @Uber Had an experience where the driver asked for cash for online payment trip and later he misbehaved. When called Uber support regarding the same, they told me that the driver has complaint against you & didn’t support

— Ravneet Singh (@rs_techie) December 31, 2024

The cab drivers should definitely improve their behaviour towards the passengers. What are your thoughts on this unfortunate incident? Let us know in the comments.