What happened
Journalist Zebunnisa Burki shared her experience in a tweet on Sunday, “Hello @bykeapk one of your riders just threatened to rape and kill me. Wondering if your complaint chat box actually works because I haven’t received any response yet.”
Hello @bykeapk one of your riders just threatened to rape and kill me. Wondering if your complaint chat box actually works. because I haven't recvd any response yet.
— Zebunnisa Burki (@zburki) February 14, 2021
What you should know
Soon after the tweet gained traction, Bykea shortly replied to Burki’s tweet “Apologising for the inconvenience”. “Kindly share your registered number with us via DM along with the booking details,” the company replied.
Hello Zebunnisa, we truly apologies for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Kindly share your registered number with us via DM along with the booking details.
— Bykea – Moving People, Parcels & Payments (@bykeapk) February 14, 2021
What happened next
Burki later shared the update of the resolution in a tweet reply saying, “I’m fine. Spoke with the Bykea complaint centre. They are extending all the help they can (have permanently removed the man from their service); and I am looking into further action — or not…[not sure tbh]. Thank you, folks, for the tweets.”
I'm fine. Spoke with the Bykea complaint centre. They are extending all the help they can (have permanently removed the man from their service); and I am looking into further action — or not…[not sure tbh]. Thank you, folks, for the tweets. https://t.co/Akl7SMsD4D
— Zebunnisa Burki (@zburki) February 14, 2021
Bykea also put out a statement condemning the incident which read, “Harassment is an unforgivable offence and at Bykea we take it very seriously. We are deeply sorry for what our valued customer had to go through. Based on the severity of the offence, the reported driver has been permanently blocked and strict action has been taken. We continue to investigate this further and work on serious measures to ensure customer satisfaction,”
Harassment and car-booking services
Multiple incidents have been reported by women traveling via car-booking services like Bykea, Careem and Uber with most reported and taken action against.