Uber Sacks Driver After He Sends "Jaldi Aao Babu" Text To Delhi Woman

A Delhi-based lawyer, Tanya Sharma, took to LinkedIn to share a disturbing experience with Uber, alleging that a cab driver sent her inappropriate messages moments after she booked a ride. In a LinkedIn post, Ms Sharma shared screenshots of the lewd texts, which included the message: "Jaldi Aao Babu yrr. Man ho raha hai" ("Please come fast babu, I'm in the mood"). She questioned how such incidents can occur in one of Delhi's affluent areas.

"We live in the 21st century and things are still so pathetic and traumatic for people on an everyday basis that even an auto driver can harass you while walking in broad daylight, in one of the poshest areas of the city," she wrote in her post. 

 "So, I booked this from Uber, and after 5 minutes I started getting these disturbing texts, after which I cancelled the booking and filed a complaint against this person. The process of grievance redressal for Uber India is to send a sympathetic message to the aggrieved and forget about it, is that how it works?" she added.

After cancelling the booking and filing a complaint, she shared updates on Uber's response. Initially, Uber replied that they would investigate and follow up within 24-48 hours. However, Ms Sharma criticised the delay, questioning Uber's commitment to ensuring women's safety. She wrote: "What if this same thing happened to other women during these so-called 48 hours of your policy? Are you people ready to take responsibility for my safety and the safety of those women out there?"

Following the widespread attention her post received, Uber took swift action and permanently banned the driver from their platform. In a subsequent post, Ms Sharma thanked everyone for their support and confirmed that Uber had indeed taken action against the driver.

"Thanks to everyone who supported and shared their experiences. I'm grateful that people around me were actually there for me in this situation and Uber addressed and banned the driver from the Uber platform, so he cannot do this to anyone else. But please escalate such matters with seriousness and more importantly, let others be aware," she said.

However, she also faced a barrage of trolls on social media with some people labelling her reaction as an "overreaction." In a follow-up LinkedIn post, she shared screenshots of the vicious comments, questioning whether simply banning the driver was sufficient. 

"People on my post are commenting and justifying the actions of the driver, even trolling me for overreacting on this whole matter. Whereas Uber has still not filed an FIR and this driver is may be still roaming freely in the city," she wrote in another post.