Boarding a radio taxi in Bhopal? Top 3 things you should know

The sexual assault of a young executive by a cab driver in Delhi may have evoked shock and outrage in many parts of India, but HT has found that the women travelling in cabs and taxis in MP are not any safer.

There is no provision of compulsory police verification of drivers in the state, and it is carried out only on the request of their employees and that too, against a fee, police officials said here.

Even taxi operators hire drivers only on the basis of their licences and nothing more. “We appoint drivers by checking licences. Police play no role in checking credentials of drivers. Police never hold any inspection of cabs too,” said Suboor Rehman, manager, Metro Taxi, Bhopal.

Police, however, said the verification of all drivers would be a massive task. Moreover, there are no laws making it compulsory, they said.

Bhopal DIG Sreenivasa Varma said, “There is no provision in the law to verify criminal records of drivers. It is rare when anybody approaches us for verification. Police verify only if operators approach us. Private operators have to pay for it too.”

GPS device in taxis as a reliable source to preempt any untoward incident is also more myth than truth, HT has found. Many female passengers board cab instead of public transport, particularly at night, as they feel safe due to GPS device. But, GPS could be put off and tampered with by the driver.

“Whenever any girl boards a cab, she feels safe due to GPS installed in the cab, but the device can be stopped by the driver. GPS runs by the current produced by the car’s battery and it could be disconnected by snapping a wire,” said Parvez, MY Cab GPS system technician-cum-manager. “MY Cab has also installed cameras in the cabs for better safety but driver can do anything,” he added.

An executive in private firm, Reenu Chauhan, 29, said, “I always board cab in the night as I think it is safe due to GPS system. But, Delhi incident really scared me.”

Quick facts

1.There is no provision of compulsory police verification of drivers in MP, and it is carried out only on the request of their employees and that too, against a fee, police officials say.

2. The verification of all drivers would be a massive task. Moreover, there are no laws making it compulsory, cops say.

3. Whenever any girl boards a cab, she feels safe due to GPS installed in the cab, but the device can be stopped by the driver, says MY Cab GPS system technician-cum-manager.