Faced with credibility crisis in the aftermath of the rape of a female executive by a cabbie, Association of Radio Taxis India on Tuesday sought to allay the apprehension that all radio cabs were a security hazard. They said banning the cab service is not the solution. They provide round-the-clock safe and secure service for people, especially women and this incident of rape should be treated as an aberration. The members of the Association confirmed that all the rules and regulations issued by the State Transport Departments in all major cities — from verification of drivers to GPS tracking of all taxis — are being adhered to.
“Association of Radio Taxis representing all the licenced Radio Taxi operators across India, including Mega Cabs, Easy Cabs, Meru Cabs, G Cabs (Gurgaon), Chanson Cabs, Yo Cabs, Sky Cabs (Hyderabad), RBTS (Chandigarh), FabCabs (Chandigarh), and Star Cab (Indore), confirmed that all the members of the Association follow all the rules and guidelines issued by the State Transport Departments in all major cities covering verification of the drivers, GPRS tracking of all taxis, drivers training for servicing various customer profiles etc. and that in the last eight years since launch of radio taxi services in different cities in India, all these players have delivered completely safe, trustworthy and reliable services to their customers,” said a statement issued by the body.
“The Association members expressed their concern at the practices being followed by technology companies like Uber, Ola and Taxi-For-Sure who follow an aggregation model and operate taxi services without seeking a licence from the State Transport Authorities and violating the laws and rules governing the radio taxi industry resulting in such heinous crimes taking place and bringing a bad name to the entire industry,” they stated.
“According to the guidelines laid down by the State Transport Departments in different States, all taxi operators have to set up a call centre and ensure that each radio taxi is equipped with a GPS/GPRS tracking device, which must be in constant communication with the Central Control Unit while the vehicle is on duty; that each vehicle display the photograph of the driver and the driver’s licence particulars are displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle; that the driver must have a driving licence of the
appropriate category issued by Transport Authority; and that the driver’s particulars, including background verification, be thorough,” said Kunal lalani, President of Association of Radio Taxis.
lalani further added that Association of Radio Taxis has been requesting the State Transport Authorities to remove the restrictive clauses in the Radio Taxi Schemes covering the tariff control, geographical restrictions for plying taxis and requirement for cars to be owned by taxi companies as these restrictions have negatively impacted the feasibility of the taxi operation and consequently the growth of licenced taxi fleets.
“In the last few months companies like Uber, Ola and Taxi-For-Sure have started operating taxi services without seeking any licenses from the State Transport Authorities, presenting themselves as technology companies, following an aggregation model and only placing a mobile application in the car violating all the rules and requirements of the Radio Taxi Scheme under Motor Vehicles Act,” said lalani.
The members of the association reasserted the promise to follow the rules and regulations as laid down by law and assured safe service to women passengers.