A Bolt driver in London filmed his encounter with a female passenger that racially abused him after he cancelled the ride after she would not wear a mask.

Mohammad Usman, 37, originally from Pakistan recalls the day when the woman got into his car by Stratford Station: "She came in and she was not wearing a mask, so I asked her: “Would you mind wearing a mask because it’s compulsory?

"But she said she can’t wear it."

He explained to the woman on October 27 that she would need to leave the car and the ride would be cancelled. He then advised her to rebook another Bolt car. 

The woman was adamant that he should drive her regardless, even though this went against the health and safety rules Bolt put in place. She said to Usman: “I’ve booked you, so you have to take me.” 

"I started recording, because you don’t know what to expect from youngsters nowadays, she called her mum and asked for a refund," said Usman. 

Bolt only charges a cancellation fee to their riders if the wait time is over eight minutes from when a driver arrives at the pickup location, which Usman explained to his passenger.  

"I told her that she hadn’t paid anything, and if she was charged then she can simply message the app for a refund."

On the phone to her mother, the girl said that Usman had charged her £8 for the cancellation, but he explained on speakerphone to her that he had not charged her daughter anything. 

The woman noticed that he was filming and threatened to "smack his face in," so he stopped filming for his own safety.  

Usman says: "The words she was using before she got out of the car were unbelievable. She kicked and punched the car after she’d got out.

"She was a girl and I’m a guy, I wasn’t expecting that. Customers can easily say anything and it’s hard to prove our innocence."

Since the racist attack, he can attest that his passenger was never charged the £8 cancellation fee as he checked the app after driving away from the scene.

Usman went to Bolt driver care and explained what he had experienced. He was told that someone from the team would be in contact within 24 hours, but "they didn’t even bother to ask me for the evidence I told them I had."

His friend encouraged him to go to the police to report her after viewing the video. After two or three days, he made the decision to give details about what happened at a London police station. 

"They told me an assigned officer would investigate what happened, but it took four weeks for the police officer to call me."

A video surfaced on Twitter earlier today showing a racist attack on a Bolt driver that happened four months ago near Stratford Station, London. 

37-year-old Mohammad Usman, originally from Pakistan but who now works in London, says he did not expect such vile abuse from a young woman. 

The video shows a young woman verbally abusing a Bolt driver because he had to cancel the ride as she would not wear a mask.  

Mohammad recalls the day during the height of the pandemic, when the woman got into his car by Stratford Station: 

‘She came in and she was not wearing a mask, so I asked her: “Would you mind wearing a mask, because it’s compulsory?”

But she said she can’t wear it.’ 

He explained to the woman that she would need to leave the car and the ride would be cancelled. He then advised her to rebook another Bolt car. 

From this point onwards, Mohammad could tell she was irritated. The woman was adamant that he should drive her regardless, even though this went against the health and safety rules Bolt put in place. She said to Mohammad: “I’ve booked you, so you have to take me.” 

‘I started recording, because you don’t know what to expect from youngsters nowadays She called her Mum and asked for a refund.’ 

Bolt only charges a cancellation fee to their riders if the wait time is over eight minutes from when a driver arrives at the pickup location, which Mohammad explained to his passenger.  

‘I told her that she hadn’t paid anything, and if she was charged then she can simply message the app for a refund.’ 

On the phone to her mother, the girl said that Mohammad had charged her £8 for the cancellation, but he explained on speakerphone to her that he had not charged her daughter anything. 

The woman noticed that he was filming and threatened to ‘smack his face in,’ so he stopped filming for his own safety.  

Mohammad says: ‘The words she was using before she got out of the car were unbelievable. She kicked and punched the car after she’d got out.’ 

‘She was a girl and I’m a guy, I wasn’t expecting that. Customers can easily say anything and it’s hard to prove our innocence.’  

Since the racist attack, he can attest that his passenger was never charged the £8 cancellation fee as he checked the app after driving away from the scene. His frustrations lie in the lack of action from Bolt, and from the Met Police. 

Mohammad went to Bolt driver care, and explained what he had experienced. He was told that someone from the team would be in contact within 24 hours, but ‘they didn’t even bother to ask me for the evidence I told them I had.’ 

His friend encouraged him to go to the police to report her after viewing the video. After two or three days, he made the decision to give details about what happened at a London police station. 

‘They told me an assigned officer would investigate what happened, but it took four weeks for the police officer to call me.’  

He was asked to provide lots of details, including the company’s name, location of the incident, and the video. 

Yesterday, the assigned officer called to tell him that the case had been closed as they could not find the woman, but that it had been passed to a charity. Mohammad gave the go ahead to his friend to post the video on social media. 

To this day, Bolt have not investigated the incident, despite the video footage Mohammad has.