Ola cab ride turns into nightmare for woman

NEW DELHI: A Delhi-based woman has raised serious concerns over passenger safety after a harrowing incident during her Ola cab ride to Gurugram.

The victim Shazia, a senior manager at Genpact, detailed the traumatic experience in a widely shared LinkedIn post, calling out the ride-hailing platform for safety lapses and a lack of accountability.

According to her account, the incident occurred on December 20 at 1:30 pm. After crossing a toll plaza, the cab driver inexplicably slowed down and ignored her

repeated queries.

Shortly thereafter, two men signaled the driver to stop, and he complied. Within moments, three additional men, including two on motorcycles, joined the scene, escalating her fears.

Shazia recounted that the driver casually remarked, “Meri kist pending hai”, which she described as alarming. Despite her insistence that the driver continue the journey, the men began to approach the vehicle.

Feeling increasingly unsafe, Shazia made the decision to escape. “I opened the right-side door and ran for my life. It was an extremely traumatic experience, and I cannot emphasise enough how terrified I felt,” she wrote.

To compound the ordeal, Shazia revealed that the SOS feature on the Ola app failed to function during the crisis. She reported the incident to Ola, but claimed she had not received a response even 24 hours later.

Shazia expressed frustration over her safety experience with Ola, calling for swift action from the company’s leadership. “Passenger safety is not just a feature, it’s a fundamental responsibility,” she stated, addressing CEO Bhavish Aggarwal directly.

Her LinkedIn post sparked widespread outrage, with users sharing similar

safety concerns.

One commenter said, “It’s scary when your SOS button doesn’t work,” while another criticised the driver for not contacting Ola support. Some users shared their own alarming experiences, including incidents in Noida where drivers stopped under

questionable circumstances.