Imagine his consternation when a techie from Mysuru was told by an Uber driver at the end of a trip that his bill is Rs 5,325 for a 6-km ride, from City Railway station to the Satellite Bus Stop on Mysuru Road. However, when Praveen BS protested, he was allegedly told by the driver that he could not get off the car unless he paid up, according to a report in the Bangalore Mirror.
Praveen, who had booked the cab from the aggregator's kiosk at the Bengaluru City Railway Station, was told that the bill for the current trip was Rs 103, but the balance was from his previous unpaid due amount. The driver, Santhos Kumar Senapati, told the Bangalore Mirror that on calling the customer care helpline, he was advised by the Uber operative to either make Praveen pay the entire amount or contact the local police.
That is exactly what they both did.
"I boarded the cab KA01G0590 at 4.30 pm. At the destination, the driver pressed the end trip button on his device. The bill amount showed Rs 5,352. I asked the driver, who told me that the current fare is Rs 103, and the rest is your previous balance. This, I could not believe as I was using Uber only for the second time in two years," Praveen told BM.
What eventually turned out to be a glitch in Uber's system, landed both him and Senapati at the Byatarayanapura police station. Finally a mediation by the local cops ended the ordeal and Praveen had to only pay the present billed amount of Rs 103.
Senapati told Praveen that he was afraid that the entire amount would be deducted from his account.