Driver display cards to be made mandatory for cabs, taxis soon

Rule to be enforced in 4 months; awareness drive on for drivers

A decade after the implementation of compulsory driving licence display system in autorickshaws, the City traffic police are now in the process of making it mandatory for cabbies, taxi aggregators and other public transport operators.

Aimed at ensuring passengers’ security, the system makes it compulsory to display driver’s details along with photograph and phone number on the rear side of the driver’s seat, clearly visible to passengers. The passengers will be able to let their families know which vehicle they are plying in and report to the police in case of harassment or misbehaviour by the driver.

M A Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), told Deccan Herald that the department started the drive a few months ago to bring taxis under the system. Presently, 20,000 cabs (yellow board) have displayed the driver licences. We will continue the drive on a routine basis for four more months to create awareness among other taxi drivers. After four months, the department will make the system compulsory. Failing to comply with the instruction will invite penalty, he said and added that the department planned to include taxi aggregators and public transport operators under the system.

He said that the procedure to get a display card was free of cost and not time consuming. “A card with details of driving licence will be available in the offices of the assistant commissioners of police. It is not a long process unless the driver does not have a valid driving licence, he added.

K Radha Krishna Holla, secretary, Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association, said that there were over one lakh taxis in the City and the association supports the decision. K G Ravindra, chairman, All India Taxi, Maxi-Cab and Bus Owners’ Association, said that it was difficult for luxury vehicles and public transport vehicles to display the cards as drivers keep changing.

Bhavya Bhat, who works in Koramangala, said that the system would be handy for women who commute alone in autos and cabs late in the night.

5,777 cases booked
Saleem said that the traffic police were conducting special raids and had booked 5,777 autorickshaw drivers in the last 10 months.

“Those drivers who did not have the cards pasted at the back of their seats were fined up to Rs 2,000 and cases were filed in court. We check the display cards during the special drives. We also check if drivers are collecting excess fares from passengers,” he noted.