Newcomer to Hyderabad alleges Uber scam involving emotional manipulation, sparks online debate on rider safety

According to the account, the driver stopped the vehicle on the Outer Ring Road and began crying, telling the passenger that the ambulance was charging him Rs 22,000. He asked for money, insisting that he could still drop her off if she helped him financially. Despite the passenger’s polite refusal and suggestion to cancel the ride, the driver continued to demand assistance.

Hyderabad: A post published recently on Reddit by a Hyderabadi newcomer raised an issue about a growing level of concern regarding the passenger safety and increased scams involving ride-hailing applications like Uber. The post reported about a very bad experience that his lady had while traveling on Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Hyderabad.

According to the post, abruptly midway during the journey the car was stopped by the Uber driver and he emotionally started claiming that his father died and asked for Rs 22,000 to pay for an ambulance.

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When the passenger intervened in the matter to cancel the ride so that he can be let go, the driver insisted on continuing and asked for money instead. After a rather tensed journey, the driver supposedly got all aggressive when the woman returned with a Rs 500 bill demanding more. The wife ran out of the car and later the wife told that she checked online and found similar scams.

In the comments, people started pouring in about similar experiences — mostly to do with fake emergencies or unauthorized toll charging. One said, “These scams are so common… just stand firm and change rides if anything seems fishy.” Another told how he had a standoff with a driver at a toll lane and reinforced the message never to pay drivers directly. Others said that they were also refunded by Uber, while some comments said to make use of the SOS button and trip sharing for safety.

A lot of people agree on the fact that, although by far, Hyderabad is quite safe, it has aroused questions of awareness and strict action against this kind of feat.