Taxi cabs plying on the city roads will now have to display prominently the way to deactivate child locks, fitted in the rear doors of a car, so that woman passengers travelling alone can disengage it in a distress situation.
The State Transport Authority (STA) discussed the issue of doing away with the child lock facility in a meeting. The matter, however, did not got support from the Board members who said it was an important safety parameter in the car.
Instead, the suggestion to put a clearly visible sticker so that a distressed passenger can disengage it was mooted by the Board, a senior STA official said.
"The cabs will have to affix this sticker so that a passenger can see it and learn how to deactivate it," said Varsha Joshi, Commissioner (Transport) of Delhi government.
The child locks are fitted in rear doors of cars to prevent the passengers sitting on the back seat from opening them whether the vehicle is moving or stationary.
It can be disengaged only by the driver of the car.
The lock provided specially to check accidental opening of the rear doors by children but it also prevents adult passengers from deactivating it.
Cases of harassment of female passengers travelling alone in cabs in the city have been reported where the victims have been unable to escape due to locked rear doors.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) recently recommended disabling of child lock facility in cabs saying there was "possibility" of increase in crime against women due to it.
Commission chairperson Swati Maliwal has sent a notice to the Transport department in this regard.
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