Upset with cab aggregator, driver abandons woman

NEW DELHI: A woman and her eight-year-old son were left stranded on a deserted road by an app-based taxi service and told to make her way home. Shanu Goel, a homemaker, had a harrowing experience last week when her cabbie, sent by TaxiForSure, refused to ply following a disagreement with a company executive over non-payment of dues. She had to wait by the roadside for over 30 minutes before her husband arrived to pick her up around 8.

10pm. On Saturday, Shanu, a resident of Model Town, booked a cab with TaxiForSure to travel to her relative`s place in Ghaziabad. She boarded the cab around 6.

30pm along with her eight-year-old son. The driver first stopped the car at Mall Road. “I was afraid as he was using foul language and looked very angry.

He was talking to someone on his mobile phone and was abusing the company regarding some payment issues. He told me that he wanted to settle scores with the company. When I asked him to drop me back home, he refused.

He restarted the car, but stopped again at a desolate spot near Tibetan Market,” said Shanu. Shanu made frantic calls to her husband, Mohit Goel, and TaxiForSure`s customer care centre. Though she was assured that another cab would come to pick her up, Shanu says no replacement arrived.

“I was really scared, as it was getting dark. We got down from the car. The driver was, meanwhile, shouting over the phone and using abusive language while talking to a company executive,” Shanu said.

It was around 8.10pm when her husband Mohit Goel arrived to pick up Shanu. “Despite an assurance, the cab company never sent a vehicle.

They claim that all their vehicles have GPS. The taxi was stationary for more than 30 minutes and the company officials didn`t react at all. My wife and son were used (sic) by the cab driver to settle scores with the company as he was not paid his dues.