Delhi Woman Alleges Harassment After Two Back-to-Back Uber Rides Turn Frightening

A Delhi woman’s account of two consecutive Uber rides turning into frightening experiences has sparked serious concerns over passenger safety, background verification of drivers, and the accountability of ride-hailing platforms operating in Indian cities.

The incident was shared on Instagram by Simran Monga, whose post quickly went viral. In a sharply worded message tagging Uber India, she accused the platform of failing to ensure basic safety standards for women passengers, particularly during late evening travel.

Simran began her account by calling out Uber for charging her a cancellation fee after she refused to proceed with a second ride that raised immediate red flags. “And I would like my Rs. 15.80 back that you so generously charged when I cancelled the 2nd Uber stating ‘driver asked me to ride off app’. Guts,” she wrote.

According to her post, the first ride was booked around 9 pm from a friend’s residence to her home. She said the vehicle that arrived was in poor condition and that the driver began behaving rudely almost immediately. She alleged that the driver blamed her for traffic delays and spoke aggressively from the moment she entered the car.

She further stated that despite repeated requests, the driver refused to roll up the windows to reduce exposure to heavy smog. Minutes into the ride, she said the driver began shouting at her for allegedly suggesting a turn she had not asked for. “I was sitting quietly when he suddenly screamed at me,” she wrote.

The situation escalated when the driver reportedly turned off the main road into a dark, poorly lit bylane. Alarmed, Simran questioned the deviation from the mapped route and asked him to return to the main road. The driver allegedly insisted she had instructed him to take that turn.

What followed, she said, was deeply unsettling. After a brief silence, the driver reportedly held his ears and apologised, claiming he had “sensed” from her energy that she wanted to take another road. Simran also alleged that the driver appeared drowsy and struggled to keep his eyes open while driving.

Fearing for her safety, she changed her drop location to a nearby mall — the closest crowded place she could find — and exited the vehicle immediately.

However, the ordeal did not end there. From the mall, she booked another Uber to reach home. This second driver asked her to walk approximately 200 metres in a dark stretch to reach the pickup point. When she refused and said she would cancel the ride, the driver reportedly arrived almost instantly.

Simran then noticed that the car’s number plate did not match the vehicle details displayed on the Uber app. She cancelled the ride and refused to enter the car. She alleged that the driver began pleading with her to get inside, offering to show his Aadhaar card for verification.

More disturbingly, she claimed the driver followed her into the mall despite her repeatedly asking him to stop. “He followed me till the mall’s escalator,” she wrote, adding that the driver remained parked outside for nearly 10 minutes, forcing her to stay inside until he left.

Addressing Uber directly, Simran wrote that women already navigate public spaces with heightened caution due to repeated experiences of harassment and fear. She accused the company of maintaining “the lowest standards of background checks, training, professionalism and ethics” and said she would no longer rely on the platform for safe travel.

Her post triggered widespread outrage online, with many women sharing similar experiences and calling for stricter driver verification, better grievance redressal, and safer alternatives for women commuters.