'You can complain, nothing will happen': Who protects you when your ride goes wrong?

Published 7 July 2026 · finance

AI First Unwanted Chat Fare Unfair Wheel of Control More Questions, Less Clarity What Drivers Say Safety Path Ahead Poll Vote & Share your view

AI First Unwanted Chat Fare Unfair Wheel of Control More Questions, Less Clarity What Drivers Say Safety Path Ahead Poll Vote & Share your view Do you believe AI chatbots are sufficient for handling passenger complaints? Yes, they are sufficient No, human assistance is essential 3k+ users shared opinion today 5k+ users already voted today 3k+ users shared opinion today Share Opinion Have you wondered what happens after you complain against a cab driver to the ride hailing app? The information may unsettle you because a passenger’s concern for safety does not match an app’s pecking order of complaint redress.Behind the current blackhole-like opacity of most cab aggregator apps lies a categorybased complaint system that commuters are rarely made aware of.When they click the app’s help function in distress, what greets them often is an AI chatbot and some options to choose from. There is no human in the loop to address the problem of a rider’s safety and a driver’s misbehaviour.How an automated interface affects a rider is apparent from Shweta’s case. The 27-year-old was on her way home from a hospital with her mother in an app cab one day. The driver repeatedly complained about the route. Then he demanded extra money. “When I refused to pay the extra amount, he rudely asked us to get off well before the drop-off point,” Shweta said.The matter became harder to manage as the driver allegedly became intimidating. Shweta tried reaching out to the platform’s support for assistance.Instead, a chatbot greeted her. There was no option to speak to a human when she needed help the most. The two women got out of the cab.Shweta gave the trip a one-star rating and left details of the confrontation in the in-app feedback system. What Shweta received was “a generic apology”. After she reached home and sent an email to the platform, the aggregator informed her the driver had been blacklisted. No evidence of the action was shared, she said.For Shweta, the bigger concern wasn’t the driver’s behaviour. It was the lack of timely human support.For Kavita (23), a routine cab booking became unsettling even before the ride began.“A friend was booking a cab for us near the Greater KailashI M Block Market. While he was on a call giving directions, the driver may have heard my voice in the background. After the call ended, he texted my friend, ‘brother, are you having fun right now?’” she said.The group reported the incident to the cab aggregator.

They were given the assurance that action would be taken. Kavita said they never got any clarity on the outcome of the complaint. “The driver’s behaviour left us very scared,” she said.Shreyanshi (25), who is a PR executive, said the boundary was crossed differently in her case.“Recently, I booked a cab, but the driver wasn’t moving towards my location. I called him to understand the reason for the delay. He started abusing me,” she alleged.Shreyanshi said she took screenshots of the conversation and shared these with the platform’s support team, expecting a follow-up. No update on the complaint came to her. Other commuters too said that there was a lack of transparency on what action was actually taken by the platform to redress a passenger’s grievance.For Madhu (37), a routine request from her cab driver led to repeated messages on her personal phone.While she was waiting for her cab outside Delhi airport, the driver asked her to contact him on his personal number. He claimed the recharge plan for the number listed on the app was about to expire. After she shared her number and boarded the cab, the driver allegedly demanded more money for entering the airport parking area. Madhu refused, but the driver continued muttering.The matter did not end there. Later that evening, the driver allegedly began messaging her repeatedly, asking her to pay at least Rs 100 more. Madhu blocked his number. What seemed a normal exchange of numbers, she said, ended up becoming an invasion of her privacy.Several other passengers alleged that drivers asked for their personal numbers or asked about the fare. Then they told them to cancel the ride on the app and offered a cheaper fare.Drivers that TOI spoke to said that many do this to avoid paying commission to the platform. Commuters say such arrangements remove the safeguards built into the app, including tracking and SOS support.Several passengers said they felt they had little control over the ride once it started.Harsh (28) said he was rushing back to his PG as the phone battery was running low when the driver began manoeuvring recklessly. “He drove at high speed, broke traffic rules, and repeatedly overtook other vehicles. Despite my repeated requests to slow down, he didn’t listen,” Harsh said. At one point, the cab allegedly brushed against another vehicle. Inside the car, Harsh hurt his leg because of that. “The driver apologised, but within minutes was speeding,” Harsh said.Satyam (31) said he was on his way to work and requested the cabbie to drive faster so he could reach office on time.