When it comes to traveling around the city using the local cab services such as Careem and Uber, there are times when you may feel uncomfortable due to the certain reasons – be it the behavior of the captain or his car – regular users of cab services have encountered a difficult situation at least twice while using the local cab services.
Cab users usually take it on social media to protest or shed light on the difficult situations they experience while availing the services. Among the many incidents, the reoccurrence of the cab driver’s behavior calls the need of speculation and screening behavior they are hired as drivers.
This One Alarming Incident Which Took Place In Karachi Shows How the Cab Captains Can Be Extremely Shady and Something Needs to Be Done
Maryam from Karachi shared the following incident:
Last night something really creepy and unsettling happened. At around 12 am, I was on the Saba Avenue road leading to Khayaban e Ittehad with my friends and I decided to book a Careem as I had to go somewhere else.
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
The captain arrived on my pin location but was no where to be seen. I called him several times to ask where he was and he kept saying “main pin location pe hoon. Aik black Vigo ke peechay hoon. House number nahi likha.”
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
And This Is Where One Could Speculate How It Was Getting Shady
At this point, I get out of my friend’s car and told him the house no that I was outside and said “ap agay peechay kisi se pooch lain aur is house number pe ajayein.” He must’ve asked the Vigo guys or someone then.
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
If It Were Me, I Would’ve Been Dead Scared…
After about 5 mins, the careem car AND the Vigo, both arrived. A man came out of the Vigo and said “apne careem book ki hai? Hum ayein hain, aap humare sath bethain.” I was confused as to who he was and why he was here, I told him “meri careem tou agay khari hai, aap kon hain?”
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
Oh Damn!
This random man kept telling me to get in his car, must’ve told me five times “aap humare sath chalain, humari gari main bethain.” He was persistent to take me. My friends freaked out as well and told me to get in their car back and that I wasn’t going on a careem or anything.
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
And Here’s More
I knew something was shady but I was totally baffled and wanted to know what was happening so I asked him “yeh kya horaha hai? KON hain aap?” Seeing me so stern, the man became timid and said “oh sorry hum bas funny video bana rahe thay. Ap kal morning show pe zaroor dekhain gi.”
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
And As Suspected, It Was a Fraud
He hands me a business card saying “yeh humari company/boss hain” and leaves. This is the business card. (A quick facebook search told me it’s a fake company that frauds people, don’t know what else they’re up to.) pic.twitter.com/sOZZ9WoVSK
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
I got back into my friend’s car and called the careem driver as to what the fuck is going on. He was visibly afraid but said the same thing, “wo pata nahi kuch log funny video bana rahay thay” I was like “kya funny video? Cameras kahan thay? Isme kya mazak tha?”
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
Maryam Shared the Details of the Captain As Well
He says “ap ayein sath seaview village restaurant udhar cameras hain” Mind you, this restaurant is miles away. I said “may kyun aon apke sath?” and told him to cancel my ride. He did that and added charges to my balance. Thanks mate 🙂 pic.twitter.com/hBCpyhoTCf
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
Pretty Scary!
It’s not about the money but @CareemPAK get your shit together. I’m a loyal customer, I regularly travel using careem thinking it is safe but your captain potentially put me in threat bringing random goons with him to take me in their car and defended them. What the hell?
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
Makes All the Sense in the World
Anyway, I made it home safely. I don’t know what they were thinking of me, why they wanted to take me with them, but to all my friends, girls and boys: Be safe and vigilant. Don’t travel alone at late hours. Be around people you trust. I definitely will be.
— Maryam (@maryamful) June 7, 2018
Honestly, if I were in her place, I would’ve been super scared. Maryam indeed handled the matter very sensibly but is that the point?
Cab services like Careem are functioning in Pakistan for a great period of time. There is a need to have a proper screening, investigative approach when it comes to hiring cab drivers. Their routes must be tracked, just like their total number of rides are tracked on daily basis.
A lot of people, especially students depend on the local private cab services – just as Maryam stated, there needs to be a proper screening process for the safety of consumers.
