Preeti says she wrote the post hoping that it would spark conversations about making public spaces more accessible.
24-year-old Preeti Singh was in for a rude shock recently while using the services of app-based cab service provider Uber in Delhi. On two separate rides on a single day, Singh says she felt humiliated and insulted by the Uber cab drivers because she is differently-abled and uses a wheelchair.
In a Facebook post which has gone viral, Preeti recounts that the driver kept saying that his car would get ruined because of the wheelchair and that she had to ask her brother to help clean the car on reaching her destination. "I pay for your services, no one's doing any charity, then why is it that I still have to feel this way just because I'm a wheelchair user?" says Preeti.
Acknowledging that not every driver has treated her this way, Preeti emphasises the need to train and sensitise drivers about the issue. She also raises some important points and solutions to help people with disabilities to travel.
Read her full post here:
After the post went viral on social media, Preeti says Uber representatives finally contacted her and have assured her of taking some action.
According to an NDTV report, Uber has said that they are reviewing the matter "internally" and have a "zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind".
Meanwhile in a related development, Uber Technologies Inc was sued on Tuesday by disability rights groups and wheelchair users accusing the ride-sharing company of violating New York City human rights laws by failing to make enough of its vehicles accessible to disabled people.
The proposed class-action complaint said Uber engaged in "pervasive and ongoing discrimination" because people in wheelchairs can use only a few dozen of its more than 58,000 vehicles in the city.
Given Uber's growing popularity, this "substantially undermines" the benefits of New York City's commitment to make half its yellow taxis wheelchair-accessible by 2020, according to the complaint filed in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
In a statement, Uber said its technology "has expanded access to reliable transportation" for people with disabilities, and that it "will continue advocating for a solution that offers affordable, reliable transportation to those who need a wheelchair accessible vehicle."
(With inputs from Reuters)
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