After Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao directed all taxi aggregators to avoid the alternative (toll-free) road to the Kempegowda International Airport, Ola on Friday said that it has issued instructions to the drivers on its platform. An Ola spokesperson said, “Strict instructions have been given to all the driver partners to access the city only through the toll road. Any deviation will lead to immediate termination.”
The police commissioner had issued the instructions following repeated incidents of taxi drivers harassing women passengers on the toll-free road, which is not well-lit. Cab drivers have been told not to use the road from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
In the most recent incident, an Ola driver, Shivashankar, was arrested for allegedly abandoning a woman passenger at a deserted spot on the toll-free road when she insisted that he take a different route. She got into the cab at 3.15 a.m. at KIA and was heading to Indiranagar.
She told the driver to take the national highway route as the alternate road is not well-lit. In response, the driver allegedly insisted that she get out of his cab. He drove away leaving her stranded on the deserted road at 3.30 a.m.
The police have booked a case under Section 336 of the IPC. Bheemashankar S. Guled, DCP (North East), said they had arrested the driver who was later released on bail.
