MC Impact: Bengaluru police registers FIR against cab driver who scammed airport passengers using a fake screenshot

Five victims - all of them Ola and Uber passengers - confirmed the pattern of deception by Gowda, who consistently used the fake Rs 5,194 screenshot.

Days after a Moneycontrol investigation exposed a cab driver's long-running scam at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) police have registered a case.

An FIR has been registered against cab driver Bharath Gowda, accused of deceiving passengers with a fake screenshot indicating a fare of Rs 5,194. The complaint was filed by Loiyum Khuman, a resident of Tavarekere in south Bengaluru on February 13.

In his complaint, Khuman recounted taking a cab from the Uber zone at the Kempegowda International Airport on January 5 at around 8 am after dropping off a friend. Gowda, posing as an Uber driver, dropped him at his residence in Tavekere.

Also read: How a Bengaluru cab driver used a fake fare screenshot to scam airport passengers

At the end of the trip, Gowda refused to accept the app fare (Rs 914) and insisted on a payment of Rs 5,194, using a fake screenshot. After an argument, Khuman relented and made the payment via UPI. He returned to the city on February 13 and filed a complaint at the KIA police station. Police booked an FIR under cheating and forgery under IPC sections 417, 465, and 471.

Following Moneycontrol's report, many cab users nationwide took to social media to report similar incidents in cities like New Delhi and Hyderabad.

Five victims - all of them Ola and Uber passengers - confirmed the pattern of deception by Gowda, who consistently used the fake Rs 5,194 screenshot. All victims were picked up by the same driver at the Bengaluru airport Ola/Uber zone between June 2023 and January 2024.

Kempegowda International Airport has dedicated pick-up zones for Ola and Uber, where passengers receive a confirmation and OTP/PIN upon booking. The driver, exploiting the anonymity provided by these zones, executed the scam seamlessly for months. He would often cancel or not start trips on the app, showing passengers a fabricated screenshot at the trip's conclusion, while their apps displayed an unfulfilled or cancelled ride.

Cab aggregators were unavailable to comment till the time of filing this copy.