Grab suspends driver who said to passenger: 'Such a rubbish Indian that I have to wait so long'

The New Paper
Oct 11, 2023

A man was subjected to racial abuse by a Grab driver recently, for allegedly “being late” for his pick-up. 

The incident was recorded and posted to subreddit Singapore Happenings on Tuesday (Oct 10).

The driver in question has since been suspended, said ride-hailing platform Grab.

The clip begins with the driver insulting his passenger: "Such a rubbish Indian that I have to wait so long! Then you tell me what route to take?" 

In response, the passenger says that the ride-hailing app would charge him extra for being late, so it "doesn't matter".

He then questions why the driver had brought race into the argument, accusing the latter of "being racial".

"I'm not being racial, this is a fact!" replies the driver, who adds that “to his knowledge”, all Indians tend to be late.

"You can complain to Grab, you can complain to anything, anyway I only drive one day a week; there's so many apps I can use to drive," the driver says.

When the passenger remarks that the whole affair is "very, very disappointing", the driver retorts: "(It’s) disappointing to have you here."

"Have me where?" the passenger questions, clearly conscious of the xenophobic comment. "Disappointing to have me where?"

The uncomfortable exchange comes to an end when the driver insists that the passenger get out of this vehicle, threatening to drive to the police station otherwise.

In the comments, many netizens – though not all – were appalled by the blatant racism exhibited by the driver.

"I got second-hand embarrassment just watching this… Once you pull out the race card, you lose," one comment read.

"This racist fool needs to be reported. There's literally no need to bring race into it," wrote another.

The Grab driver in question has since been suspended, said ride-hailing platform Grab.

In response to media queries, the Grab spokesperson said that its driver-partners are expected to treat passengers fairly and not discriminate against them in any way.

“This is in line with our code of conduct. We take a strong stance against discriminatory behaviour and language on our platform and have since suspended the driver-partner,” it added.