A woman was banned from using Uber's ride-share and food delivery service because they deemed her name offensive - despite being common in some countries.
For millions of people around the world, the word swastika is associated with the horrors of World War 2. But for Swastika Chandra, it's an important part of her culture.
The name means good luck and prosperity in ancient Sanskrit, which is a major part of the 35-year-old mum's identity as a Hindu. But for many in the West, the word is commonly associated with Germany's Nazi Party in the 20th century.
The swastika is still, up until this day, associated with those who hold anti-semitic beliefs, including during the Hamas massacre of Israelis in October 2023. And it was then the mum, who lives in Sydney, Australia, faced trouble after trying to use the UberEats app.
Chandra, who grew up in Fiji, said her name wasn't deemed controversial during her childhood. Speaking to Nine, she said: "It is a very common name. I personally know four or five other girls with the same name. [...] It means good luck. It means good things for me."
She was even able to have her name on her birth certificate, as well as her Australian citizenship certificate, health care card, and driving licence, without any raised eyebrows.
So she was surprised when she wasn't able to order food through Uber one October afternoon. She explained that during the payment stage, she received a pop-up saying: "Your first name is in violation and you need to change your name on the app."
Uber, who have since apologised to Chandra, had brought in new guidelines on woulds that could be offensive - including the word swastika. The mum explained she had a deep understanding that the name has a "very troubling" double meaning - but that the name had been used by Hindus for "thousands of years before Hitler" - who had used it in the "wrong way".
She added: "A bit of education, I think, is needed. I'm very proud of my name. I believe in the good that comes with it and I'm not changing it for anyone."
The swastika is actually an ancient symbol that has been used in many different cultures, for at leat 5,000 years, before Adolf Hitler made it a Nazi symbol.
Five months later, and with the help of Australia's The Hindu Council, support from the Jewish community and the NSW attorney-general, Uber has since backed down, apologised and allowed Swastika to rejoin the platform, as an exemption.
The Jewish Board of Deputies, who also backed Swastika, told A Current Affair: "There is a difference between Ms Chandra innocently using her name and the deployment of a sinister symbol."
She has since been honoured by the Hindu community, who have supported her in her mission of sharing the true meaning of her name, and standing up to the company. She is now urging other young girls to "be proud" of their names and identity, adding: "It's who you are".
In a statement, Uber shared: "Uber is committed to facilitating a safe and welcoming environment for all users. For that reason, Uber has a global policy of restricting access to users whose names entered into the Uber app contain potentially offensive words.
"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. In this case, after reviewing Ms Chandra's request, we reinstated her access to the app.
"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 Mirror has reached to Uber out for further comment.
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