Airport taxi service denies charges; director issues warning; Ola says it won't let matter die

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP)

Updated

Mangaluru, Jun 15: A day after a lady filed a complaint alleging harassment by taxi drivers at Mangaluru airport for hiring an Ola cab, the Mangalore Airport Taxi Service denied the allegations and asserted that they were right in opposing the Ola cab.

Speaking to daijiworld, Kenny D'Cunha, treasurer of Mangalore Airport Taxi Service denied that the lady passenger had been harassed or chased by the taxi drivers, as alleged.

"The allegations are baseless. We have a set of rules that prohibits taxi drivers from talking to the passenger party. The taxi drivers did not even talk to her. They can check the CCTVs. We are not afraid," he said.



File Photo

Regarding alleged manhandling of the Ola driver, he said, "Ola service does not have permission for pickup from rural areas. We have held three-four meetings with the authorities on this to decide the routes, but the Ola officials never turned up for the meetings. If they had, we could have decided on this issue.

"Ola does not have proper documents. Ola cabs are allowed in the airport only if they inform the airport taxi service first and register at the airport counter. In this case, the Ola driver had not registered, and when we confronted him, he apologized saying he did not know about it. The taxi drivers then told him to go, but they did not manhandle him," Kenny said.

Asked about the FIR filed in the police station against the drivers, Kenny said, "She (complainant) must have been angry that cab driver was told to go back. Her allegations are false. We never attacked her."

"We followed all the rules. If Ola had registered the pickup beforehand, there would have been no problem. They (Ola drivers) are not following rules so the airport taxi drivers got angry," he added.



We have permit to operate at airport; won't take this lying down: Ola

Meanwhile, speaking to daijiworld, Ola cab service said that the company was unhappy about the incident and would not take it lying down.

"As the driver in question has taken leave, we came to know about the incident only through daijiworld. We are very unhappy that our driver and a passenger were harassed this way, and we will not take this lying down," an official from Ola said.

Asked about Mangalore Airport Taxi Service's allegations that Ola did not have permission to operate at the airport, he said, "We are allowed to pick up and drop passengers at Mangaluru airport, and we have already discussed this with the airport director. All documents have been submitted to the authorities concerned. We have permit to operate all over the state, but considering safety of women, we operate withing a radius of 100 km in the city, wherever GPS functions."

He further said that this was not the first such incident at the airport. "In the past also, our drivers have been assaulted by taxi drivers at the airport. Even the police did not help - instead they just stood there and recorded the incident on their phones. We then had a meeting with the goons (a term he used for taxi drivers) last time, but about 50-60 people tried to assault us. That is why we do not want to have any meetings with them. Our drivers feel highly insecure about driving to the airport, as they fear someone would assault them.

"We have attended RTA meetings and given all documents and we have the permit to run. We do police verification of all drivers and install GPS in our cabs. If we do not do this who will take the responsibility if something goes wrong?" the official said.

Asked if Ola would take any action in the matter, he said, "This incident has affected not only our driver but also the lady passenger. We will consult our legal advisor and do everything to provide justice to the driver and the passenger. We will not allow this issue to die down. Safety is of utmost importance to us and we will not compromise on it."

He also said that as per advice from the RTA, Ola has removed its stickers from its cabs for safety. "In case they (taxi drivers) have any problems about our documents, they should fight the case legally in court. We will not tolerate such illegal means," he asserted.



No problem with Ola; issued stern warning to taxi drivers: Airport director

When contacted, the airport authorities initially said that they had no idea about the incident at all. However, later a meeting was called with the taxi drivers.

Speaking to daijiworld, airport director J T Radhakrishnan said, "We have already called a meeting and issued stern warning and notice to the taxi drivers. During the meeting, the taxi drivers denied having harassed or chased the lady passenger and said she hired an auto rickshaw from outside the airport itself. They said all they did was to oppose the Ola cab.

"In future if this repeats, we will take strict action against the guilty. We will not support such acts. We are ready to cooperate with the police," he added.

Asked if Ola had permit to operate at the airport, he replied in the affirmative and said, "There is no problem with Ola operating at the airport. We have already given them permit to do so. There is some legal dispute between the taxi drivers' association and Ola, and this is an issue not only at the airport but in the city limits too. The airport authority has no problem with Ola."

Asked why no action has been taken against the taxi drivers despite repeated complaints, he said, "They have been working at the airport from many years. Many of them lost their lands during airport expansion and were given this job. But now time has come to stop supporting those who indulge in such acts. We have to maintain our standards. Mangaluru airport is ranked second best in India and we will do our best to maintain it."

On what action would be taken if such incidents occur again, he said it can't be decided as of now.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the case has been transferred from women police station to Bajpe police, but the latter said that they have not received an intimation yet.

Earlier Report



Shame: Taxi drivers harass, chase woman passenger at Mangaluru airport

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jun 15: In a shocking, disgusting incident that brings to light not only the issue of women's safety but also the high-handedness of taxi drivers at Mangaluru airport and the apathy of the airport security, a woman was allegedly harassed, threatened and abused by a bunch of taxi drivers, just because her family had booked an Ola cab for her instead of hiring one of them.

As per a complaint filed in the women's police station on Sunday June 14, a copy of which is with daijiworld, Sapna (name changed to protect privacy), an IT professional, had been to Bengaluru on work on June 10. On June 12, she hurried back to Mangaluru on board a Jet Airways flight, after receiving news of her father-in-law's critical condition and needing to see him in his last moments. She landed in Mangaluru at 4 pm the same day.

Her family members had booked an Ola cab online so that she could come home from the airport immediately without the hassle of finding taxis. However, when she walked out from the airport and headed towards the waiting Ola cab, she saw a group of taxi drivers (associated with the airport) manhandling the Ola cab driver, identified as Mohammed (as per the complaint). The taxi drivers had snatched away the key of the cab, and Mohammed was begging them to return it, says Sapna.

"This group of drivers finally forced the Ola cab driver to run away and warned him not to pick me up anywhere, (not) even outside the airport premises. No officers of the airport came to our rescue," says Sapna.

To her horror, Sapna herself was allegedly abused, chased and threatened by the taxi drivers and stopped from getting into the Ola taxi.

In the midst of this harassment, she reported her ordeal over mobile phone to her family, who were already battling an emotional struggle back home. "I contacted my husband immediately over the mobile and he managed to contact the (Ola) driver again and he convinced him to wait outside the collection gate of the airport premises. When I started walking, the taxi drivers started chasing me, and looking at this, the cab driver ran away," Sapna said.

Speaking to daijiworld, Sapna's husband said, "The taxi driver who was beaten struggled for his life, and in his frantic effort of pleading and fighting, took flight with his taxi out of the airport, leaving her stranded with the swearing drivers of the airport taxis."



(Representational Pic)

The nightmare did not end there. Sapna further states in the complaint, "I had no other option but to run from a group of gunda drivers who started chasing me further for almost two kilometers. They were chasing me with abusive, life-threatening language, loose talk, attempted molestation and outraged (my) modesty with criminal force.

"They also threatened that they would kill me if I use Ola cab again while coming out of Mangaluru airport. They also said that they had full support from Mangalore Airport authorities and Bajpe police station to manhandle Ola cab drivers and Ola passengers. When I mentioned that I would file a police complaint and also complain with Mangalore Airport authorities, they insulted me saying the local police and the airport authorities are in their pockets and they are doing this with their consent," she said.

"Though this incident took place in front of the airport security, no officers came to her aid nor did anyone dare to put an end to this atrocity," her husband said.

Finally, when she reached Kavoor-Bajpe road, a kind-hearted rickshaw driver came to her rescue and she managed to get out of her helpless plight and reach her family who live inside the city limits.

Her nightmare turned into deep sorrow and grief when Sapna learnt that her father-in-law had passed away just minutes before she reached home. "Due to the troubles, inconvenience, harassment and lack of security at the airport for women passengers, I went through a lot of psychological trauma and the last opportunity to see my father-in-law alive was lost forever," she said.

She also said that though she wanted to file the complaint immediately, she could not as her father-in-law's funeral was held on Saturday June 13. An FIR has been lodged in women's police station based on Sapna's statement. She, in her complaint, also pleaded to conduct an inquiry against the director of Airport Authority, Mangaluru for lapse of duties and responsibilities.

Says her husband, "This is one of the many incidents I have heard of first-hand experiences from other citizens of Mangaluru who have faced similar situations at other public transport facilities like railway stations too. Citizens of metropolitan cities and semi-urban cities have the freedom of choice to select the mode of transport convenient to them.

"Mangaluru has witnessed this transition lately with taxi systems, but this is posing serious problems for its citizens being harassed and monopolized by force to pay exorbitantly high fares to avail airport taxi drop services. Charges range between Rs 600 - Rs 700 for city drop from the airport taxis while local taxi services like Mangi, Ola, City Cab, Taxi-for-Sure offer about Rs 250 - Rs 300 with premium AC service. These benefits to citizens are seen as a threat by the public transport taxis vested interests who are hand-in-glove with the authorities. This again brings to light the security threat to women and other passengers who travel late evenings," he felt.

Ironically, only days ago, Mangaluru airport was rated second best in the country in terms of customer satisfaction, in a survey of airports with less than 1.5 million passengers annually.