Tracking devices to become must for Ola, Uber cabs in Delhi under new policy | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Tracking devices to become must for Ola, Uber cabs in Delhi under new policy

Hindustan Times | By
Dec 15, 2017 12:34 PM IST

The Delhi government has recently inserted the clause in the policy to make tracking devices must to ensure passenger safety. Once the cars are fitted with a separate GPS device, the transport department will be able to monitor them on a real-time basis.

Other than the mobile phone-based GPS system, cab aggregators in Delhi will soon have to fix a separate tracking device in the taxis run by them.

Part of the upcoming ‘Licensing and Regulation of App Based Cab Aggregators Rules, 2017’, the Delhi government has recently inserted the clause in the policy to ensure passenger safety.(Arun Sharma/HT FILE)
Part of the upcoming ‘Licensing and Regulation of App Based Cab Aggregators Rules, 2017’, the Delhi government has recently inserted the clause in the policy to ensure passenger safety.(Arun Sharma/HT FILE)

Part of the upcoming ‘Licensing and Regulation of App Based Cab Aggregators Rules, 2017’, the Delhi government has recently inserted the clause in the policy to ensure passenger safety.

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“The GPS navigation system used by taxi drivers is only accessible to the cab aggregating company. Once all these cars are fitted with a separate GPS device, the transport department will be able to monitor it on a real-time basis,” a transport department official said.

For 24x7 monitoring of these vehicles, a new control room is being built at the department’s headquarters in North Delhi.

The norm, however, will come into force only once the new policy is notified. The notification is likely to take at least a month as the policy is yet to be sent to the Lieutenant Governor for approval after which the draft rules will be made public for comments for a 30-day period.

Once in place, non-compliance of the rules will attract a strict penalty from the cab drivers. “If GPS is out of order then it should be repaired within 24 hours failing which the taxi owner is liable for penalty of Rs. 500/- per day. The penalty will be charged at the time of annual fitness of the taxi,” the draft rules read.

The rules also talk of installing digital monitors in cabs through which a passenger will be able to keep track of the route taken by the driver.

“The taxi shall be fitted with GPS and GPRS based tracking device, printer, and a display panel showing the path traversed and total distance covered. The device shall be in constant communication with the central control room of the transport department in case of individual devices,” it stated.

Panic buttons to help passengers in distress situations will also be a must in all taxis.

Also, in case a passenger reports misconduct amounting to an offence during the journey, it will be the aggregators’ responsibility to file a police complaint. Non-reporting of any offence to the police will attract a fine of Rs 1 lakh for each complaint.

The aggregator will have a portal for registration of complaints, including those that are criminal in nature.

The new rules will allow only those cab aggregators to ply who have a minimum of 100 taxis attached with them. An aggregator will have to take the licence from the transport department, the cost of which would vary from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 5 crore for a period of five years depending on the number of taxis.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Sweta Goswami writes on politics, urban development, transportation, energy and social welfare. Based in Delhi, she tracks government policies and suggests corrections based on public feedback and on-ground implementation through her reports. She has also covered the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) since its inception.

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