‘Ran For My Life’: Delhi Woman Details Cab Experience When Driver Stopped For Strangers, SOS Feature Didn’t Work

A Delhi woman alleged a harrowing Ola cab ride en route to Gurugram with safety lapses. The driver stopped the cab after the toll, and men approached, demanding payment.

A Delhi-based woman, Shazia A, has shared a harrowing account of her Ola cab ride to Gurugram, claiming what she described as serious lapses in passenger safety by the ride-hailing platform. In her detailed post on LinkedIn, Shazia, a senior manager at Genpact, recounted the incident that occurred on 20th December at 1:30 pm.

According to her, the cab driver inexplicably slowed down after crossing the toll, ignored her queries, and eventually stopped the vehicle at the instruction of two men. Soon after, three more men, including two on bikes, joined, creating an "unsafe" situation. 

“The driver mentioned, ‘Meri kist pending hai’ (my instalment is due), which left me terrified,” she wrote. Despite insisting that the driver continue the trip, Shazia observed the men approaching the vehicle and decided to flee. “Feeling unsafe, 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 added.

Adding to the ordeal, Shazia alleged that the SOS feature on the Ola app failed to function during the incident. Despite lodging a complaint with Ola, she claimed no response had been received even after 24 hours. 

“Passenger safety is not just a feature—it’s a fundamental responsibility. OLA CABS/Bhavish Aggarwal - I urge you to respond to this issue immediately and take strict action to ensure passenger safety is never compromised,” she concluded.

People Demand Action For Passenger Safety

Her post has garnered significant attention on LinkedIn, with users expressing shock and recounting similar experiences. Many called for urgent action to ensure passenger safety.

“That is indeed scary when your SOS button does not work.” Another criticised the driver’s lack of responsibility, stating: “At least the driver should have understood his responsibility and he could have contacted Ola support and arranged another cab while you were sitting in the cab. Bhavish Aggarwal, please do something for such incidents to ensure passenger safety and security.”

Adding to the comments, a user shared two personal incidents in Noida: “This happened to me twice when I was in Noida. Some random guy stopped me at midnight when I was travelling by cab to the airport. He asked for money. The driver stopped and replied no money and drove. The guy outside hit the car behind. Driver spoke some bad words and moved on. It was an unofficial collection of money. The second incident also happened in the afternoon. It’s exactly the same as you mentioned. I asked the guy outside to leave us as I was already late. He said how can I leave him. He didn’t pay road tax. So I left the cab and booked another. Luckily, the flight also got delayed. I explained everything to Ola support, and they refunded the fare. But it was not a deserted place. Don’t know if your case is similar, but I, being a guy, was only worried about getting late. But yeah, I can feel your experience.”