Mumbai Man, Travelling With Sister, Highlights Cab Scam: ‘He Refused To Show Aadhaar, Wanted Full Money For Halfway’

A post about an alleged scam involving a cab in Mumbai has sparked debate on Reddit. A user recounted their experience of booking an Uber from the airport and how they had to pay extra after an argument with the cab driver regarding the fare. The user claimed that halfway through the ride, the cab driver stopped near Ghansoli and said he couldn’t continue as it had “broken down.” The driver cancelled the ride and asked the user and their sister to pay the fare accrued up to that point, which was Rs 1,000 in the app.

The matter then turned into a dispute over the cab fare. The user wondered if they were at fault for asking the driver to show his Aadhaar card during the argument to prove he lived far away. The post was shared in the r?mumbai subreddit.

News18 could not independently verify the details of the post.

Redditor Talks About Alleged Cab Scam

“We refused to pay and told him that if he took us the rest of the way, we would pay the full ₹1200. We even offered to wait, trying to call his bluff. He claimed it would take 3–4 hours to fix the car and started pleading, saying he was a poor man from Bhiwandi and he himself has a long way back to home and is stuck here with a broken car,” the post read. The user asked the driver to show his Aadhaar card as proof that he lived near Bhiwandi and promised to pay Rs 1000 if that was the case. The driver refused to do so and did not agree to show any documents as his address proof. He started shouting about “gareeb ki baddua” and alleged that he was owed Rs 1,000.

The user booked another cab and paid the driver only Rs 600. The post continued, “All the while, he claimed we were the ones scamming him, arguing that because airport parking alone costs him ₹250, he was being paid less than his due. But why should we pay ₹1000 for literally half the ride?” The user ended the post by saying that the second ride cost them Rs 650 more from the halfway point.

Is this a new Ola/Uber scam? Or was I being an Asshole?
byu/iamkhatkar inmumbai

Users React To Reddit Post

Several users supported the Redditor’s point of view. “NTA You should have pressed the help button in the app and asked the call center to sort it out. They would have either sent another cab or shown the ride balance =0.”

“If his car was genuinely broken, he should have let Uber handle it. Cancelling and demanding cash is what makes it suspicious. NTA. You didn’t scam him. You just didn’t let him scam you,” another pointed out.

An account suggested, “Just out of curiosity, what was the driver’s rating? Generally, I have bad experiences with drivers rated below 4.8 and I directly cancel anyone with a low rating.”

A user recalled, “I’ve had 2 vehicle breakdowns via Uber. One was a Rick and the other was a Cab. At both times, I’ve taken pictures of the vehicle and filed it under accident. They respond then, and any money matter can also be sorted. As for what OP did… that was perfect in this case.”

“I usually pay whatever is shown on the app and then raise a complaint on the app, they refund the correct amount,” an account added.

However, some people felt the Redditor was in the wrong. “Well, he was right about Rs. 250 parking charges at the airport. Coming to the math now, you got away with a cab from the airport till Ghansoli for Rs. 350 – which is not even half of what the fare is from the Airport to Ghansoli.”

Another pointed out, “I guess you are wrong here. If app had shown 1k you should have paid 1k and then went to the Uber app. Now the app bill is still 1k. Uber will charge a commission on 1k amount but you only have paid 600. You are wrong on your part.”

The incident remains a topic of debate on Reddit, with many people taking the user’s side and pointing out that they had done nothing wrong.