In yet another shocking case that raises serious questions about safety in ride-hailing apps, a 16-year-old boy was brutally attacked by an Uber driver in Cairo over a simple change in payment method.

The teenager was heading home from the New Cairo with his friends when he booked an Uber ride and initially selected cash as the payment method. Midway through the trip, he realized he didn’t have enough cash and changed the payment to credit card — a perfectly normal option in the app.

But what happened next was anything but normal.

According to his mother’s public statement, the driver became furious. He verbally assaulted the teen, stopped the car in Maadi, and physically attacked him, punching him in the face and causing deep facial injuries. The boy fled and found help at a nearby police checkpoint.

The result? Sixty-four stitches in his face. Permanent scarring and trauma that no refund can fix.

The Incident in Detail

The ride was requested by the 16-year-old through his Uber account. Initially set to be paid in cash, the teen changed the method to credit during the ride when he realised he didn’t have enough money. The driver was notified of the change via the app, and the fare was successfully paid through the linked card.

After dropping the teen off at street 233 in Maadi, the driver demanded additional payment in cash. When the boy declined, the driver verbally abused him, then physically attacked him, slashing his face with a sharp object.

The boy escaped and found a nearby police checkpoint, where officers arrested the driver immediately.

We Spoke to the Boy’s Mother

In a conversation with El-Shai, the mother, Lamis, expressed her frustration and heartbreak.

“My son was polite, calm, and respectful. He was assaulted for simply switching to a valid payment method. The driver had already been paid. But he wanted to get paid twice. When my son said no, he beat him and slashed his face. What kind of human does that to a child?”

She said her son is now traumatised and afraid to leave the house alone. His confidence and sense of safety have been shattered.

Legal Action Already Underway — But the Driver Is Still Out

The family filed an official police report (Case No. 8846/2025, Maadi Station), and the driver was detained but later released pending further investigation and trial.

Uber’s Exclusive Statement to El-Shai

In response to our inquiry, Uber sent an exclusive statement to El-Shai addressing the attack:

“This type of behavior has no place on the Uber app. We are in touch with the rider’s family and the partner driver was deactivated from driving on the Uber app once the incident was reported to us, in line with our community guidelines.

Safety has always been and remains a top priority at Uber, and we are working closely with law enforcement on the case.”

Uber added that its incident response team has reached out to the family, and that their insurance partner, AXA, contacted the mother to discuss medical coverage and compensation.

Is Uber Doing Enough?

Uber claims that all its drivers go through criminal background checks, are regularly drug tested, receive rider safety training, and operate vehicles that are routinely inspected.

Additionally, they introduced new safety features to enhance the driver verification and combat fraud in September 2024.

But clearly, that’s not enough. When a minor ends up needing 64 stitches because of an app-based ride, it means something has gone terribly wrong.

A Pattern That Can’t Be Ignored

This incident follows public outcry over recent cases involving ride-hailing apps in Egypt, including the case of Habiba El-Shamaa, who died after jumping from an Uber vehicle earlier this year. In that case, the driver was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Lamis told El-Shai she had seen similar cases in the news, but never imagined her family would go through something similar.

We will continue to follow this story closely. If you’ve had a similar experience or feel unsafe using ride-hailing apps, speak up. These aren’t just isolated cases. And they shouldn’t be treated as such.

This Isn’t Just About Uber. It’s a Ride-Hailing Crisis.

While this incident involved an Uber driver, the problem isn’t limited to one company. This is a ride-hailing industry issue, and it’s past time for proper accountability.

We need more than app guidelines and refund emails. We need enforceable, government-backed safety standards, especially when minors are involved.

There must be real regulatory partnerships between the government and ride-hailing platforms. Safety protocols shouldn’t be internal company policies; they should be the law. Uber and its competitors must be held to clear, transparent standards, and those standards must be monitored and enforced.

And that’s just the start.

Ride-hailing services should be publishing detailed safety transparency reports, including how many drivers are deactivated, how fast they respond to incidents, and what actually happens after a report is filed. 

Saying “we take safety seriously” isn’t enough anymore. We need numbers, accountability, and consequences.

Driver vetting also needs to go further. Background checks and drug tests aren’t cutting it. We need psychological screening, repeat-offender detection systems, and ongoing safety training, not just at onboarding.

Because at the end of the day, we’d all rather wait an extra 10 minutes for a vetted, safe driver than get a ride in 2 minutes and end up in the ER. Safety can’t be sacrificed for speed. Not anymore.