Getty Image / Spencer Platt / Staff
You get drunk and then order an Uber to take you home so you don’t drunk drive. That’s kind of the main sales pitch for the ride-hailing service. But according to one man, it was his Uber driver who was so drunk that the Uber passenger had to drive himself home.
On the night of September 9th, Surya Oruganti arrived at the Kempegowda International Airport, which is the international airport serving Bangalore, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. His Uber ride showed up and it was the same car as the one he ordered, but the driver appeared to be a different person than featured in the profile photo on the Uber app. Never-the-less, it was the same vehicle, so Oruganti took the ride because he just wanted to go home after his flight.
Oruganti noticed that the Uber driver was completely shitfaced. So shitfaced in fact, that Surya drove the car because the driver was so entirely drunk and impaired. Surya posted a photo on Twitter of the alleged Uber driver slumped in the passenger seat as Oruganti drove the car and didn’t even get paid for it.
@Uber_India, the ride back from Bangalore airport was not quite what I expected. The driver was drunk and drowsy. I had to pull the car over to the side and I drove all the way home. Pic with the driver in the rider seat passed out.
You need to fix this @Uber , @Uber_Support pic.twitter.com/G7LB0caeTM— surya ☀️ (@suryaoruganti) September 9, 2018
Surya also posted a video of the driver, “who was drunk enough to not know he was being recorded.”
Here's a video of the driver who was drunk enough to not know he was being recorded. He was not the driver claimed by the app either. pic.twitter.com/IPnwBkTZ7R
— surya ☀️ (@suryaoruganti) September 9, 2018
Did this happen on Reverse Day? This is the exact opposite of what’s supposed to happen on an Uber ride.
“This driver behavior needs to be caught and handled as it is a very serious safety issue,” Oruganti wrote on Twitter. “This is most common to and from airports at night in India. Having a person checking for this before starting trip should be doable.”
@UberINSupport – DM'ed the details.@dkhos – this driver behavior needs to be caught and handled as it is a very serious safety issue.
This is most common to and from airports at night in India. Having a person checking for this before starting trip should be doable.@Uber_India— surya ☀️ (@suryaoruganti) September 10, 2018
The passenger sent the concerning information to Uber Support and they contacted him on September 14th.
“Uber safety team promptly called back about 20 hours later,” Oruganti said. “They said I shouldn’t drive a cab because that’s a safety issue. And that they’ll educate the driver whatever that means and might terminate the driver if there’s recurrence.”
Uber safety team promptly called back about 20 hours later. They said I shouldn't drive a cab because that's a safety issue. And that they'll educate the driver whatever that means and might terminate the driver if there's recurrence.#sorrynotsorry @UberINSupport @Uber_India
— surya ☀️ (@suryaoruganti) September 15, 2018
“This is a regrettable and concerning incident,” Uber said in a statement. “While we take all possible measures to ensure that drivers behind the wheel match the person shown on the app, in rare instances, when this doesn’t happen, we encourage riders to cancel their rides immediately and report the issue on the app, so that immediate actions can be taken.” Does the driver pay the passenger?
One would surmise that the passenger gets five stars and the driver does not.
[TheDrive]