A Jaipur-based influencer has accused a driver contracted with taxi aggregator Uber of trying to snatch her phone and harass her, while she was travelling to pick her daughter up from school. The digital content creator Manali Gupta, narrated the entire incident through a video on Instagram.

“During my recent Uber ride to pick up my daughter from school, I was engaged in a phone call when the driver abruptly attempted to snatch my phone,” the mother of two wrote in the caption of the video.

In the video, she can be heard describing her ordeal and added that she hoped Uber would take the necessary action against the driver.

She added that she told the driver to stop the car after he tried to snatch her phone. She revealed that her request to the driver went unanswered. “Startled, I protested, and he responded with verbal abuse. Fearing for my safety, I urgently requested him to stop the car, but he ignored my pleas and sped up,” she wrote.

Mrs Gupta also claimed that she moved to the other end of the seat and managed to exit the car while it was still moving.

She also mentioned the name of the driver and the car. “The driver then accelerated away. I urge Uber to take immediate action to ensure the safety of its users and consider banning this driver named Shyam Sundar (2018 Eon, RJ14 TE 5679) to prevent such incidents in the future.”

See the video here:

Uber replied and apologised for the situation. The ride-hailing platform added that the company has taken appropriate action against the concerned driver-partner.

“Safety is paramount at Uber and such behaviour has no place on our platform. Our safety agent has connected with you and basis your concerning feedback, we’ve taken appropriate action against the concerned driver-partner. Please refer to the in-app Help section for further details.”

The video has amassed over 2.9 million views on Instagram with a barrage of comments. Several users shared their own experiences with cab drivers.

A user wrote, “A similar incident happened to me recently. The driver started staring at me from the rearview mirror and made a comment that I was smelling good in a sexual way. I confronted him and he apologized but while getting down, he tried snatching my phone. I yelled at him and he reported me to Uber stating I misbehaved with him. I received a warning from Uber about my behaviour but there is no update from their side about the safety issue that I raised against the driver. Pathetic @uber_india”

Another user commented, “This is very disturbing and unsafe. Please take Action.”

“I wish you strength to cope with this incident. @uber_india This is shocking and unexpected, if background checks are something you are already doing, you also need to do mental health checks. we considered @uber the safest mode of transport, unfortunately, that will change, especially if no action is taken,” the third user wrote.