A man shared how a Rapido driver sought Rs 3,000 to return his manager's phone. Bengaluru police intervened after hours of failed attempts and helped recover the device.Man praises Bengaluru police for stepping in after Rapido driver’s Rs 3,000 demand A man visiting Bengaluru on a business trip alleged that a Rapido driver demanded Rs 3,000 to return his manager’s missing phone, refusing several options to hand it over.
After hours of trying to resolve the issue, the two turned to the police, whose intervention helped them get the phone back.The man recounted the experience in a Reddit post on r/Bangalore titled, “The Rapido driver tried to squeeze Rs 3,000 out of us, but the Bangalore police helped us get our phone back.”According to his post, he was in the city with his manager for work. After finishing their work, they booked a Rapido ride to Yelahanka to try some Mandi.
It was only after reaching the restaurant that his manager realised he had left his phone inside the cab.The two contacted the driver, who allegedly initially denied having the phone before admitting that it was with him. They offered to compensate him for the inconvenience and suggested arranging a Swiggy Genie pickup to collect the device.
However, the driver allegedly refused, saying he was on another trip and could not leave his cab at the office where he was waiting. When they offered to collect the phone themselves, he reportedly said he would have moved elsewhere by the time they arrived.The situation took a turn when the driver allegedly claimed that returning the phone would cost him a customer pickup worth around Rs 4,000.
He then demanded Rs 3,000 to bring the device back, the man said. The Reddit user said they were willing to pay a reasonable amount for the trouble but found the demand excessive.
He added that every solution they suggested was rejected, leaving them waiting for hours. The issue began around 1 pm, and by 4 pm, the driver had told them that he might return the phone only the following day.With no resolution in sight, the two decided to visit Chikkajala police station.
The man admitted they were unsure what to expect, particularly because they did not speak Kannada. However, he said the officers helped them communicate in Hindi, took down the driver's details and contacted him directly.According to the post, the police initially asked the driver to bring the phone to the station and warned him that refusing to cooperate could invite further action, including the seizure of his vehicle.The visitors told the officers they did not want to cause unnecessary trouble for the driver and simply wanted him to hand over the phone to a Swiggy Genie delivery person, as they had suggested earlier.
The man said the officers reprimanded the driver over his behaviour, after which the driver called them back and agreed to hand over the device.They then booked the pickup and discovered that the driver was only around 5 km away. The Reddit user said they would have happily paid him about Rs 500 for his trouble if he had cooperated from the beginning, instead of demanding Rs 3,000.However, he said the main reason for sharing the experience was to appreciate the police officers who helped them.
He praised the team at Chikkajala police station for being patient and helpful, particularly for making an effort to overcome the language barrier rather than turning them away.Take a look at the post here:The post received a whole lot of appreciative reactions from fellow Reddit users. One user said the account had restored some of their faith in the city's police, while another said stories like these helped restore their faith in humanity and deserved recognition.Another user shared a similar experience in New York, saying they had to contact Uber support to retrieve a lost belonging and were charged a fee before the driver returned it.
However, they expressed doubt that the amount allegedly demanded in this case was justified.- Ends