Rules for app-based cabs remain on paper

MUMBAI: Nineteen months after the central government directed states to regulate app-based taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola to ensure passengers’ safety, the

MUMBAI: Nineteen months after the central government directed states to regulate app-based taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola to ensure passengers’ safety, the state government is yet to do so.

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Safety measures meant to be put in place include panic buttons and GPS trackers in every taxi, besides police verification of drivers and public-service taxi badges for them.

The union government issued the directive on December 8, 2014, soon after the driver of an Uber taxi in Delhi was arrested on charges of raping a passenger.

The issue resurfaced after Uber driver Shehbaaz Shaikh, 32, was arrested for allegedly molesting a New Zealand national who was travelling alone in his cab from Bandra to Versova late on Wednesday.

While the Karnataka government has begun regulating app-based taxis and controlling surge pricing (charging higher fares when demand is high), the state’s New City Taxi Scheme 2015, which aims to regulate app-based taxi firms, control surge pricing and ensure the safety of passengers, remains on paper.

The transport department has come out with six versions of the scheme, each slightly different. Last month, the department revised it and said that there was no need to create a new class of taxis as this would lead to “regulatory complexity”. Taxi union leaders say the government is trying to buy time for app-based taxis while drivers of regular black-and-yellow taxis suffer. “If the Centre and others have brought in rules to regulate app-based taxis, why is the state government taking so much time?” asked Balasaheb Sanap, leader of taxi union Jai Bhagwan Mahasangh, which has threatened an indefinite strike from August 29.

A source said the Regional Transport Office (RTO) directed all aggregators to install panic buttons and GPS trackers, set up call centres, make public services badges mandatory and ensure police verification of all drivers last year. However, it is difficult for the RTO to take legal action against aggregators without rules in place.

“The government has neither issued permits to drivers nor introduced rules to regulate their companies. How we can take legal action against them?” said a senior RTO official.

The Tardeo RTO issued two show-causes notice to Uber driver Shehbaaz Shaikh, 32, a Pydhoni resident who allegedly molested a foreigner on Wednesday night. “We issued two showcause notices, one about his drivers licence and another about the permit, based on the FIR registered by the police” said Govind Saindane from the RTO.