Court notice on flouting of regulations by radio cabs

The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the central government to apprise it the steps taken on the issue of alleged flouting of government regulations by radio cabs here.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw hearing a PIL filed by a lawyer who sought action against all radio taxi companies for allegedly flouting existing regulations, asked the central government to respond on the issue.

The plea came days after one of the driver of US-based online global cab company Uber was arrested for raping a 25-year-old woman business analyst.

The Delhi Police Tuesday slapped a case of cheating and violating lawful orders against Uber.

According to police, Uber officials had Tuesday "admitted" to not installing GPS in the car but only on iPhones provided by them -- which meant that the location of the cab could only be determined till the time the phone was switched on and the driver had internet connectivity.

High court lawyer Damini Chawla, filing the plea, said the Dec 5 rape incident clearly shows that the driver did not undergo mandatory police verification and background check.

"The accused driver did not have a driving licence issued by Delhi Transport Authority, which is recommended for those engaged in driving cabs in the capital. Further, instead of mandatory GPS system, the only link with the driver was an application that he had downloaded on the phone he was using," said the plea.

The Delhi government had created a Radio Taxi Scheme, 2006 and laid down the terms and conditions for licensing of taxi services.

The conditions include character verification of the driver also but the scheme was not being followed by the companies, the plea said.

It added: "Car rental companies only provide for platform/interface for booking cabs. Surprisingly, such companies neither own any car nor do they have drivers on their payroll. The said acts are blatant violation of the Radio Taxi Scheme, 2006."

Chawla also stated her experience before the court saying when recently she travelling in an Ola cab, its driver had informed her that he was an accused in a murder case. She said the driver told her that he was driving the cab while out on bail and sought her legal advice.