Bengaluru: Auto driver grabs woman’s hand, snatches phone over payment dispute

Bengaluru has witnessed yet another disturbing incident involving an auto rickshaw driver and a female passenger, further raising concerns about safety and police conduct in the city. The incident, which unfolded on Thursday evening, has ignited an online discussion about the potential dangers passengers are exposed to in ride-hailing disputes, and the challenges in ensuring effective law enforcement responses.
According to a social media post shared by the affected passenger’s spouse, the ordeal began when the woman and her friend, having taken an auto rickshaw from Whitefield to Bannerghatta Road, encountered payment issues. The ride was booked via Uber with the payment method defaulted to Uber Money. Despite repeated attempts, the driver insisted on cash payment, which Uber’s system does not allow to be changed mid-ride.
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Upon dropping off her friend and reaching her destination, the woman informed the driver that the payment had been completed through Uber Money. The driver, however, became confrontational, claiming he had not received the payment, the post said. The driver allegedly forcibly took her phone after she attempted to show proof of payment, escalating the situation.
“She dropped her friend at her stop and reached our apartment gate and informed that payment was done through Uber Money and they couldn’t change it to cash. Once she started moving towards gate the auto driver just grabbed her hand and started arguing that money hasn’t reached him and so on. She kept explaining the payment is done and she even showed the screenshot that payment has been made. The auto driver got very angry and snatched her phone, she shouted and called the guards. The guards couldn’t control him as he was like he will hurt them even,” the user recounted in a Reddit post.
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Residents from the apartment complex intervened to de-escalate the situation, but the driver refused to return the phone. Police were summoned to the scene but allegedly took the driver’s side, the post claimed.
“The police was called and when the police arrived even then he wouldn’t give her phone back. The police were taking the auto driver side the whole time. If somehow it was my wife’s fault. When I went this was like around 30 mins into the issue he returned the phone to us. After a while senior police officers arrived. Police did listen to both parties and said what you want to do and suggested that let him say sorry and let him go,” the user shared.
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“He kept arguing that he was right and kept lying that he hadn’t touched her at all. We kept our stance and we took the guy to the station and raised an FIR against him. He kept the same argument that he didn’t do anything wrong. After realising that this is leading to his arrest he started saying sorry and all. All this went till 2am in the morning. We complained and he was kept throughout the night in the station. Please be safe guys. The tolerance level of people has just gone very low,” he added.
See the post here:
This incident has sparked outrage on social media, with many users criticizing the police for their initial handling of the situation and expressing concern about passenger safety. The Bengaluru Police Department has not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident.