The driver of an Uber cab allegedly dozed off while driving a passenger from Delhi to Gurgaon, leaving the latter with no choice but to take the wheel himself.
It all happened on May 16 when Ishaan Gill, a financial analyst with a multinational company in Gurgaon, booked a cab through the taxi aggregator’s app at Defence Colony in Delhi at 12:36 a.m. for his DLF Phase-II residence in Gurgaon.
“The cab, a white Honda Amaze, reached at 1:10 a.m. The driver, Ajay, was looking off. I asked him if everything was fine and he nodded in affirmation. I got into the cab and got busy with my phone. We had barely travelled 20 minutes when I noticed that the driver was about to hit a divider,” Mr. Gill told The Hindu .
He then directed the driver to park the car on the roadside and offered him some water.
“When I enquired from him, he told me that he had taken some pills and was feeling giddy and had severe headache. It was too late, so I thought it was not safe to wait for a new cab. I then offered to drive, and Ajay readily agreed. I asked him to move to the passenger seat and tie the seat belt. He soon fell asleep while I drove all the way to my house,” recalled Gill.
Mr. Gill said he reached his society around 2 a.m. and tried to wake the driver up for payment but to no avail. “I received a message on my phone that the fare had come to Rs.427. So, I dropped Rs.500 with the driver, and asked a security guard to guide him out of the society when he got up,” said the financial analyst.
He said that when he filled the company’s feedback form, he did not get any response. He then decided to post the incident on Facebook. “Had a horrific experience with UBER last night. My driver fell asleep on the wheel because he took “pills” to keep him up longer. He had to be shaken up by me to prevent a crash from happening. I personally had to put him in the passenger seat and drive his car back by myself. Pathetic background checks obviously. Very disturbing,” reads the Facebook post.
Company’s response
Mr. Gill said: “Soon after I posted the incident on Facebook, I got a message as well as a call from the company. They told me that it was wrong of me to drive a commercial vehicle without valid licence and that I should have booked another cab.
The company, however, apologised and offered to return Rs.500, but I declined.” He also posted a video that shows him paying Rs.500 to the driver who is seen fast asleep.
Mr. Gill said that he wanted the company to be careful while conducting background checks and take action against the driver.
Repeated attempts to contact Uber officials on this matter went unanswered.
Here is the Facebook post of Mr. Gill:
