Tada, I'm in your inbox: Driver texts passenger to 'keep in touch' after ride

It's always nice to get to know new people, but not when you're the driver of a ride they had booked. 

One Tada driver apparently didn't get the memo and thought it was a good idea to slide into his passenger's inbox after driving her to her destination. 

In a TikTok video uploaded on Dec 10, the passenger said the driver picked her up from her house that morning.

While the ride went smoothly, he probed a little too much into her personal life. 

"Everything [was] fine, it's just the classic chitter chatter, maybe a bit too many personal questions," she recounted. 

Later that night, however, the young woman received a message from the driver on WhatsApp. 

In the text message, apart from wishing her all the best in her endeavours, he also said: "You look great". 

Now, that left her feeling disturbed.

"That one [is] a bit too much, this man is in his mid-30s, maybe 40s," she added. 

But what really bothered her was the part where he told her to "keep in touch" — how did he get hold of her phone number?

"This man knows my number, this man knows where I live, and he's telling me that we're going to keep in touch," said the young woman.

Replying to comments on her TikTok video, the woman shared that the ride-hailing company has reached out to her and is handling the issue. 

Tada has number masking so such incidents "typically should not happen", she added.

One netizen, who claimed to be a part-time Tada driver, commented that drivers are unable to retrieve the passenger's number from the app's job history. 

AsiaOne has contacted the passenger for more details, but she has yet to respond to our queries at the time of publication.

The woman has since made her TikTok account private.

No unnecessary contact allowed

In response to AsiaOne's queries, a Tada spokesperson said on Tuesday that the app’s number masking feature was not activated for this ride due to a technical issue with Tada's service provider.

The feature is designed to protect user privacy in times where passengers and drivers have to contact each other through in-app messaging or voice calls during rides.

"While incidents like this are very limited, we understand the discomfort it might create for our users even if it happens in isolation," said Tada.

"We are investigating this issue and have reached out to the respective driver and rider."

To prevent such isolated incidents from happening in future, Tada said it will introduce preventive measures such as prohibiting voice calls when numbers cannot be successfully masked.

According to the ride-hailing company's code of conduct, drivers are not allowed to make unnecessary contact with riders unless it is for purposes related to the job booking. They're also not allowed to ask personal questions. 

Those caught doing so will face disciplinary actions or legal prosecution. 

The ride-hailing company also advised victims of harassment to never take matters into their own hands and urged them to report the case to the company as soon as possible. 

"We aim to serve all parties impartially and will take such actions as appropriate," said Tada. 

In recent months, several passengers have reported cases of harassment from drivers on rides they had booked.

Back in May, another woman was looking for a ride on Telegram group SG Hitch when a man offered her a free one.

The catch? She had to hook up with him. 

Her photos aroused him, he said. While she ignored his message, the man continued to contact her, so she blocked him. 

However, a new Telegram account messaged her soon after and she suspected that it was the same person.  

ALSO READ: Mr Classy turns creepy: Woman says hitch driver offered free ride for 'something in return'

melissateo@asiaone.com

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