Uber app bans woman with name Swastika Chandra, says your first name is ...
Uber banned a woman with name 'Swastika Chandra' from its services due to her first name, deeming it "potentially offensive."
Chandra, whose first name means 'good luck' in Sanskrit, recounted the incident while speaking to media outlet A Current Affair. She noted how she encountered a pop-up instructing her to change her name during a routine food order.
“I was putting in an order for food one afternoon and went to the payment stage and this pop-up came up saying, ‘Your first name is in violation and you need to change your name on the app’,” she reportedly said.
She had the knowledge that the symbol of Hitler's Nazi Party hakenkreuz is often mixed up with the swastika. However, it's important to note that the swastika itself has a long history and is an ancient symbol used in various cultures for thousands of years, often representing good fortune or well-being.
But due to the mix up, it's now widely often usedas a symbol of hate, and antisemitism. “They don’t know that the Hindus used it for thousands of years,” she reportedly said.
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However, Chandra refused to alter her name on the Uber application while citing its significance in Hindu culture. After a five-month ordeal, Uber finally granted Chandra an exemption to rejoin the platform following intervention from The Hindu Council and support from the NSW Attorney-General and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.
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In response, Uber apologised to Chandra. The company also acknowledged the delay in resolving the matter.“Uber is committed to facilitating a safe and welcoming environment for all users,” the company said in a statement adding,“For that reason, Uber has a global policy of restricting access to users whose names entered into the Uber app contain potentially offensive words."
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“We understand that there are different cultural nuances to names, and therefore our teams address incidents like this on a case-by-case basis to ensure we evaluate each account fairly," it added.
Uber said that following reviewing Chandra’s request, the application was made accessible to her.“We have apologised to Ms Chandra for the inconvenience this caused her, and we appreciate her patience as we reviewed the matter, which took longer than we hoped it would," the statement added.
(With inputs from agencies)