Bengaluru: Following the recent incident of an Ola cab driver molesting a 24-year-old woman on the way to the Kempegowda International Airport, the city police has asked Ola, Uber and other cab aggregators to revise their apps to make sure that when a passenger in distress presses the panic button, a message is also relayed to the police control room along with the location of the cab.
Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Additional Commissioner of Police (East), Seemanth Kumar Singh said his department was in talks with the cab aggregators on the upgradation of the apps to keep the police in the loop in case of an emergency and they were willing to make the necessary changes. “If the police receives the message right after the person in distress presses the SOS button on the taxi apps, the control room could inform the nearby Hoysala to attend to the case. The response would be faster than if the victim’s family or friends received the message and informed the police,” he pointed out.
Mr. Singh said he had also advised the cab aggregators to carry out regular random live checks on the routes opted for by the drivers to show them that they were under watch. “There is a route to every destination and the companies should ensure that the drivers do not take a third road or end the trip midway. A practice of checking on routes taken by the drivers should be introduced and drivers taking alternative routes questioned. This will make other drivers responsible,” he reasoned.
The customer care department of the companies, Mr. Singh said, should also follow up on the women passenger using their services at night and check with them over the phone after they end the journey.
adding, “Cab aggregators currently focus more on their business modules and less on the safety and security of their passengers. Regular random checks on the drivers and feedback from passengers could help them provide their customers a safe journey,” he added.
The Ola cab incident has, meanwhile, made women in the city more cautious. Take Ms Ashwini, a techie with an MNC, who often returns home late in the evening from work. She says she now avoids taking a cab and instead asks her father or brother to drop and pick her up from her office.
