The Delhi government, according to its draft 'City Taxi Rules – 2017,' will renew taxi licence of drivers who have disabled central locking system in their cars, a measure aimed at ensuring safety of woman passengers.
Hindustan Times reported that the new rule will be compulsory for all the cab aggregators and taxi drivers.
“The programme aims to regulate all taxis plying in the capital, including those run by app-based cab aggregators,” HT reported quoting an official.
The revised taxi rules come against the backdrop of numerous cases of sexual harassment of women inside the cabs in the national capital. On September 12, a driver of a black-yellow taxi allegedly raped a woman passenger near the Red Fort.
Several violations came up during investigation, including lack of mandatory GPS meter system.
Earlier this year, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi had made a proposal to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping to remove central locking systems in taxis and cabs to ensure the safety of the women and child passengers.
The ministry of road transport and highways had recently made “GPS panic devices” mandatory to install in the cabs to help passengers to transmit “distress” signals to the nearest police stations following the recommendations of the minister.
Under the City Taxi Rules, 2017, the Delhi government also plans to stop surge pricing by app-based cab aggregators. Instead, it plans that app-based cab aggregators may be allowed to charge some extra amount above the base price per kilometer, but that amount would be fixed and strictly enforced.
