Earlier this month, an emergency forced Anu*to call for an Uber as she was running late for an exam she couldn’t afford to miss.
The 23-year-old business student based in Melbourne, who doesn’t wish to be named told SBS Punjabi that the 15-minute ride to the university campus was a nightmare she had only heard of in the news.
“It was all normal until the driver took an unknown route which ended in an isolated alley. When I questioned him, he said he was trying to avoid the rush hour traffic.
“When he saw that I was panicking, he offered me his bottle of water which I refused to take. That somehow ticked him off, and he stopped the car and got out of the vehicle. But I was quicker, rushed out and got into a nearby café and didn’t look back,” said Anu.
The Indian student managed to get away from the ‘dangerous driver’ in the nick of time - however, she missed her exam due to a ride that she claimed has tainted her cab experience for life.
Anu* is not her real name.
This comes days after an Indian-origin driver, Manpreet Singh was sentenced to at least three years and four months after he pleaded guilty to raping a passenger he picked up in inner Melbourne last year.
During his trial, it surfaced that Mr Singh was not a registered Uber driver and he managed to bypass the ride-sharing service’s ID verification technology, a feature used to ensure only registered drivers get behind the wheel.
While Crime Statistics Agency told SBS Punjabi that there is no specific data available on the number of crimes involving rideshare drivers, Victoria Police, however, told The Age that they receive a slew of complaints from concerned young women, ranging from minor offences to sexual assault.
In a statement to SBS Punjabi, Victoria police said it consults closely with stakeholders such as rideshare services to share intelligence and strongly encourage passengers who believe that a crime has occurred during the ride to report the matter to the police, regardless of when it has occurred.
“While passengers can report any concerns about a fraudulent activity or driver behaviour directly to the rideshare company, it’s important that any suspected criminal offending is reported to police so the incident is recorded and an investigation can be conducted,” said a Victoria police spokesperson.
According to research conducted by Roy Morgan, Uber has emerged as a dominant force in Australia, with about 4.3 million people aged 14 and over, using its services in an average of three months.
When contacted about rising concerns over passenger safety, Uber claimed it has improved its real-time ID verification system, in the aftermath of Manpreet Singh's case.
“In 2016, we announced Real-Time ID Check, which helps ensure that the driver behind the wheel matches the account in our system.
“We started with basic selfies, and today’s enhancement prompts a driver to perform a random series of basic movements—blinking, smiling and/or turning their head—to add another layer of security,” said an Uber spokesperson.
In addition, Uber claimed, it is soon going to introduce a verification system for passengers to ensure they’re hopping on to the right vehicle, to step-up passenger protection.
"To make sure you get in the right car, you’ll soon be able to choose to receive a unique four-digit PIN to verbally provide to your driver. The driver will only be able to start your trip in the App once the correct PIN has been entered. We’re also developing new technology that uses ultrasound waves to automatically verify you’re in the right car, no PIN needed."
But Victorian MP and co-founder of Transport Matters Party, Rod Barton, who has long been advocating for increased safety in rideshare vehicles, said the onus shouldn't be on the passengers to run through security checks before getting in a vehicle.
“These incidents are not the fault of the women involved. This is the fault of these men and a system that provides the opportunity for them to act in this way.
“Unmarked cars, unregistered drivers. Safety systems can be bypassed. This is touting at its most extreme,” said Mr Barton.
He insisted that a mere printout of a rideshare logo on the dashboard isn't nearly enough.
"We should have fixed security cameras installed on all vehicles.
“Safety matters and it saddens me that incidents like this are occurring and we are still debating whether rideshare services in their current form are safe,” he added.
SBS Punjabi has also reached out to Ola and DiDi for comment.
Listen to SBS Punjabi Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
