Hyderabad: Private cab services in the state will soon have an ‘emergency button’ installed in a service application, especially aimed as a safety measure for women travellers.
In case of an emergency, the passenger can press the Emergency button in the related cab services app. The message will be transmitted to Hawk Eye App (an initiative of the TS police) through a backend operational workflow. This will enable passing on latitude and longitude location and other details of the cab to a police control room as well as police patrols.
The same alert will be transmitted to the regi-onal station house officer, divisional assistant and deputy commissioners of police, and to the control room of the cab operator, registered family members, friends etc.
Director General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy in an official statement explained, “On receiving the information, the police will be able to respond immediately to reach the commuter in distress by continuously tracking the movement of the vehicle on the geo-tagged map. This facility will not only help in apprehending the offender before the crime is committed but also help in enhancing the levels of safety and security to all commuters on the move and their family members at home.”
So far, the process of integrating police patrols with passenger cabs has been achieved for Ola, Tora, Move in Sync, and 112, the Shout app developed by the Union home ministry and the app developed by Telangana Tourism.
The police chief has directed providers of cab services and public service vehicles to get their mobile apps integrated with the police patrols for enhancing safety of commuters.
