Cab aggregator OLA on Monday, 18 June, fired a driver for refusing to drop a Muslim customer at his preferred location, also issuing a public apology over the incident on Twitter.
According to the complainant Asad Ashraf, a Delhi-based journalist, he had booked a cab on 17 June from BK Dutt colony to Jamia Nagar.
The driver, who accepted Ashraf’s ride, refused to drop him at his preferred location, dropping him off mid-way, effectively stranding him. Further, he allegedly threatened Ashraf, calling some friends over to the location.
The complaint filed by Ashraf read:
… made a hate speech saying that would not go to Jamia Nagar as this Muslim area is not a place for OLA to go.
Ashraf then raised an emergency alarm to OLA, who responded with a call, but did not follow up, despite several calls from Ashraf’s end.
When Ashraf took to Twitter to complain about the services, OLA’s support team responded by stating that the Safety team had already responded to his call of distress.
However, Ashraf then alleged that though OLA had promised another cab would pick him up from the spot, he was virtually blocked on the app till he submitted his rating for the previous driver.
Ola then apologised for the incident, assuring that the Safety team would get in contact for a ‘detailed discussion’.
On 18 June, OLA released a statement on Twitter, announcing that they had ‘off-roader’ the driver.
This incident comes hardly a month after a man had cancelled his OLA ride as his driver was Muslim. OLA then had tweeted out a similar response, stating that like India, they too were a ‘secular platform’.
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