Asad Ashraf, who booked an Ola cab from B.K Dutt Colony in Delhi to get to Jamia got dropped midway. All because the cab driver refused to go to a place that, according to him, was a 'Muslim colony'.
Ashraf, a journalist based out of Delhi, narrated the experience of his nightmarish journey on Twitter. Ashraf said that the cab driver allegedly threatened and harassed him saying that Jamia Nagar "was not a place to go" as it was a “Muslim colony.”
When Ashraf protested, the cab driver, he said, also threatened to get his “people” to come to the location.
After Ashraf was dropped off mid-route, he raised at an immediate alarm call with Ola – which he states did not address his issue – and further, the follow-up calls he made went unanswered.
Ola also blocked his app until he rated the ride. In effect, Ashraf was stranded on the road without being able to book another cab.
When he posted the screenshot of his complaint to Ola customer care on Twitter, Ola responded saying that the call had already been resolved. Ashraf alleged that it hadn’t – and Ola stated that they would forward his complaint to their safety team.
@Olacabs your driver would have killed me for being a Muslim today. Where are your ethics ? @DelhiPolice . Screenshot of my complaint is here. pic.twitter.com/tXSGFvHcZA — Asad Ashraf (@AshrafAsad) June 17, 2018
Ola has since responded, by saying that they have sacked the driver and taken the necessary action.
Specific to the shocking Incident that happened last night, we have off-roaded the driver. Ola, like India, believes in secularity & will never allow any sort of discrimination amongst its customers & driver partners. We stand by our customer & deeply apologise for the incident.— Ola (@Olacabs) June 18, 2018
This incident comes after an earlier one in April, where a man had cancelled his Ola ride because his driver was Muslim. Ola had responded stating that they were a secular platform, and asked their passengers and drivers alike to respect each other.
Ola, like our country, is a secular platform, and we don't discriminate our driver partners or customers basis their caste, religion, gender or creed. We urge all our customers and driver partners to treat each other with respect at all times. — Ola (@Olacabs) April 22, 2018
The taxi-hailing service's response had won hearts then.
While a public statement by Ola affirming its faith in secularism-- the bedrock of Indian democracy-- may seem unusual, it is probably what many more Indian corporations should be doing.
