Bengaluru auto driver argues with woman over ride cancellation. Video goes viral

A video of an altercation between a Bengaluru auto-rickshaw driver and a woman passenger about cancelling a booking went viral on social media.

In Short

• A Bengaluru auto driver and woman argue over a cancelled ride
• Driver accuses woman of booking then cancelling his Ola ride
• Bengaluru Police ask for contact details after video goes viral

A heated altercation between a Bengaluru auto-rickshaw driver and a woman passenger over a cancelled booking turned heads online, sparking debate about ride-hailing apps and their issues.

The confrontation, documented in a video and shared by the driver Pavan Kumar on X, shows Kumar accusing the woman of booking his ride via the Ola app and then cancelling it to take a Rapido ride instead.

In the video, Kumar is visibly upset as he claims he was left waiting while the woman opted for a different service. “You booked my auto first and then cancelled it to take a Rapido. We lose time and money because of this,” he argued as he expressed his frustration at what he viewed as inconsiderate behaviour from passengers who compare prices and switch bookings frequently.

The woman, however, had a different take on the situation. She denied confirming any booking and explained that she was merely checking fare prices across multiple apps. “I didn’t finalise any booking; I was just comparing fares,” she said.

As the argument escalated, the woman called her father, saying, “Papa, yeh auto-wala mujhe pareshan kar raha hai. Humne nahin kiya iska booking [Dad, this auto driver is harassing me; I didn’t make any bookings.]”

She then suggested that the problem lay with the Ola app itself, snapping back, “App mein dekho. Aapka app ka problem hai, Ola app ka. Zyada natak mat karo [Look at the app, the issue is with Ola, not me. Don’t create drama.]”

Watch the viral video here:

The Bengaluru City Police reacted to the viral video. “Please DM your contact number and mention the place of incident.”

In another post, Kumar said that the incident took place at Dommasandra Sarjapur Main Road.

Social media users seemed to be divided over the issue. While several users sided with the auto-driver, emphasising on the frequent cancellations they face, others felt that the woman had a valid point.

“It seems actually there is a software issue. If you try to book and the system goes on searching for a driver to respond, it fails, and starts to search again,” a user said.

Another added, “For this purpose, only cancellation beyond a certain time is charged to whomever cancels - customer or driver. Isn’t that the way they penalise whoever cancels at the last minute?”

See the comments here:

The viral video highlighted the tensions between drivers and passengers over the use of ride-hailing apps, as well as the technical glitches and misunderstandings that often arise.