Overview
- A woman judicial aspirant booked an Ola auto on October 11, 2025 to reach her mains exam but the arriving vehicle had a different registration, the driver took the OTP, diverted the route about 25 km, demanded extra fare and abandoned her and her mother on the roadside.
- The passenger paid for another ride at her own expense and said the ordeal caused fear, anxiety and likely hurt her exam performance.
- Ola told the forum it suspended the driver and off‑boarded the vehicle after the complaint, but the Kurnool District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission found a clear deficiency in service and rejected the company’s claim that it was merely an intermediary.
- The commission partly allowed the complaint on May 26–27, 2026 and awarded ₹50,000 as compensation plus ₹5,000 in litigation costs, with the order to be complied with within 45 days.
- The ruling directs Ola to strengthen monitoring and verification of drivers and vehicles, and it underscores a trend in consumer forums holding app‑based aggregators accountable for safety and verification failures that affect passengers.