New Delhi, 30 September (H.S.):

The Delhi High Court has issued notices to cab-booking platforms, the Centre and state governments while hearing a petition seeking guidelines to ensure the safety of women travelling in app-based taxi services.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya said the court wanted app-based taxi services to be held accountable and issued notices to the concerned parties. The matter will next be heard on December 16.

The petition has been filed by Aditya Sehgal. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel told the court that app-based companies operate more than two lakh cabs across Delhi-NCR, but alleged that drivers are not adequately checked at night.

The counsel also raised concerns about whether it can be determined if a taxi driver has consumed alcohol before beginning a ride. The petition seeks significant changes to existing safety mechanisms for women using bike taxis and app-based cab services.

Among the measures sought in the petition is a system to ensure that the driver and vehicle arriving to pick up a passenger are the same as those displayed on the booking application.

The petition further seeks to allow passengers to cancel a ride without penalty if the driver or vehicle is changed without their consent. Such incidents, it says, should also be formally recorded as safety-related events.

The petitioner has also sought the establishment of round-the-clock command and control centres capable of responding immediately to emergency situations, including SOS alerts raised by passengers.

Other measures sought include automatic alerts in the event of significant deviations from the planned route, periodic gender-sensitivity training for drivers and enhanced surveillance mechanisms at vulnerable or sensitive locations.

The petition seeks a comprehensive safety framework for women using app-based transportation services, with greater accountability for booking platforms and quicker intervention mechanisms in emergency situations.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar