Several cab drivers in city yet to be verified

Guidelines for cab operators, drivers to be issued soon

As in the case of the Delhi rape incident, where the antecedents of the accused cab driver was not verified by the police, there are several cab drivers in the city, whose verification is not complete. Owing to the heavy fees for police verification, cab operators have now requested the police to reduce police verification fee, so that verification of all drivers could be completed.

On Friday, city police issued guidelines to cab operators and drivers in the city to ensure safety of passengers, particularly women. A meeting to discuss the same was convened at the Police Commissioner’s office. 

While a detailed set of guidelines for taxi operators will be issued soon, all taxi operators will have to abide by a few directions of the police from today. Commissioner of Police, M A Saleem said that all taxi drivers will have to compulsorily display the badge given to them by RTOs.

“Drivers without valid license and taxis which do not have a yellow board, will not be allowed to operate,” he said.

The department will soon introduce Driver License Display System, containing details of a cab driver, along the lines of the one introduced for auto drivers in the city.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Saleem said that a complete set of guidelines to be followed by cab operators and drivers, will be issued after consultation with RTO and Road Transport Authority.

Permit compulsory
To a question on whether all taxi-operators had a permit, he said that it was mandatory for all operators to have a permit. “Without permit, one cannot operate,” he said.

Prashanth B S of Mysuru Travel Agents Association, said that they had requested the police to reduce the cost of police verification.

“Police verification presently costs Rs 5,750 per person. While some cab drivers have already completed the verification procedure, verification of others is not yet complete,” he said.

A request has been made with the police commissioner to reduce the verification fees, who has agreed to look into the issue. He has also instructed against hiring tax drivers from other States, he said.

While police said that there were around 2,000 taxis, the Association said that there were more than 1,000 taxis. “However, there is no complete data on the number of cabs operating in the city, even with the RTO,” Prashanth said.

However, a database of all cab drivers is being created to prevent incidents, like the one reported in Delhi, he said.