After the alleged rape of a 27-year-old girl by a cab driver in Delhi, the UT Administration has swung into action to ensure safety of residents in the radio taxis running across Chandigarh.
The State Transport Authority (STA) has directed the authorised taxi operators — FabCabs, Mega Cabs and RBTZ to furnish details of drivers employed by them and get their police verification done at the earliest. Besides, the STA has started surprise checks of the radio taxis.
At present, around 200 taxis are being operated by the three authorised taxi operations in Chandigarh. The STA has also asked the operators to ensure functioning of global positioning system (GPS) in their radio taxis.
“The STA has directed the three taxi operators to submit information like driving license, residential address and other details of drivers employed by them in next two days. Also, they have been asked to ensure that police verification of the drivers is done at the earliest,” said STA Additional Secretary Rajiv Tewari while talking to The Pioneer.
He added, “Surprise checks are being carried out by the STA staff to check the functioning of radio taxis. We are checking whether the GPS system is installed in the taxis or not. STA conducted checks at railway stations and bus stands on Tuesday.”
Under the UT Administration’s scheme, the drivers are required to be matriculates, should have passed a driving test prescribed by the UT Administration and have no criminal records and must be in uniform at all times.
Apart from the three authorised taxi operators, there are many taxi operators running illegal taxi services in the city. The STA has already declared that Uber, Meru, Ola, Fab Cabs and Taxi for Sure do not conform to regulations of the radio taxi scheme and illegally plying taxis in the city.
Tewari said, “Notices have been issued to these unauthorized taxi operators. Also, the challaning process of these taxis has already been initiated. Ola is banned by the UT Administration but they had obtained stay orders from the Court and are operating in the city.”
In the event of being challaned, the maximum penalty that can be imposed is `5,000. Also, the STA can impound the vehicle during the checking process. In Chandigarh, the radio taxi services are serving the city residents according to the policy framed by the UT Administration. The taxi fares are also being determined by the UT Administration from time to time.
last week, a taxi driver employed by US-based taxi operator Uber was arrested from Mathura for allegedly raping a 27-year-old woman executive in his cab in New Delhi.