A 24-year-old differently abled woman has alleged that an Uber taxi driver "humiliated" her for carrying a wheelchair, saying it could "ruin" his vehicle.
Uber said it had a "zero-tolerance" policy towards discrimination of any kind and had reviewed the matter.
Preeti Singh, an intern with a chartered accountancy firm, had taken a cab from south Delhi to west Delhi and another taxi back on Monday when heavy rains lashed the national capital.
She wrote on Facebook, "... both the drivers weren't happy about keeping the wheelchair in their cars. During my trip back home, I really felt humiliated and insulted when the driver kept saying 'my car's gonna get ruined' (sic)." Singh wrote that after reaching her destination, she asked her brother to clean the cab with a cloth "just so he never says that again to anyone".
She wrote that this was not the first time she faced an issue with drivers not willing to keep her wheelchair on their car seats. The graduate from the Shri Ram College of Commerce here also said there were no luggage carriers on the cars and the boots did not have enough space for a wheelchair.
"In Delhi, CNG cars are a compulsion (mostly) but such is not the case with carriers. There is no place in the boots, there are no carriers and the drivers don't want to keep it on the seats! Even when they do most of the times it comes as a favour," she wrote.
In a statement, Uber said it was in touch with Singh and had "internally reviewed" the matter.
Uber has a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind. We internally reviewed the matter and are retraining the concerned driver partners. We are sensitising our driver partners for special needs of our riders, said a spokesperson from Uber.
