DUBAI After a string of disturbing incidents from various parts of the world, the scandal-plagued Uber taxi service is making news in Dubai too -- once again for all the wrong reasons.
On Monday, the online ride-sharing company was forced to ‘deactivate’ one of its drivers after an Indian woman reported the man for harassment.
Marketing executive Sonika Santani, 26, said the Uber driver was drunk and called her cell phone nonstop between 5 and 7am.
“I had used Uber’s mobile application to book a ride from BurJuman on Sunday evening. But when no one showed up, I cancelled the trip on the same app and went home in an RTA cab. Imagine my surprise when an Uber driver called me at the ungodly hour of five the next morning and asked where I was and what I was doing. I told him I didn’t need the service but he wouldn’t listen and kept dialling my number again and again,” Santani told XPRESS.
Persistent
“He wouldn’t tell me why he was calling me. Every time I hung up, he would call back and ask inane questions. Even threats of police action had no effect on him. It was unnerving as he sounded drunk so I handed the phone to my husband. When the driver heard his voice, he disconnected only to ring back minutes later.”
Screen grabs of Santani’s phone show the Uber driver called her 15 times in less than two hours.
“Eventually we blocked his number. Had we not done that he would’ve continued harassing me. A lot of single women use Uber in Dubai. I urge them to be cautious all the time,” she said.
Later Santani shot a strongly worded e-mail to Uber, saying she would escalate the issue with Dubai Police if the company didn’t look into her complaint.
Uber’s response was quick. Their marketing and communications manager, Ronnie Nader, wrote to Santani, apologising for the incident. “This is definitely unacceptable and something we do not tolerate. We have deactivated the driver and called him in to discuss the matter,” the email read.
J.P. Mondalek, Uber’s general manager for the UAE, said customer safety is paramount to their operations. “We take such incidents extremely seriously. The driver has been deactivated and the case is under investigation. We partner with drivers rather than employ them. Effectively, they work with limousine companies and use our technology to enhance their business. If there is any case like this, we suspend them from using our technology,” said Mondalek.
However, the driver denied any wrongdoing, claiming that it was a case of mistaken identity. “I was trying to call my friend who had a similar number,” he told XPRESS.
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