The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to cab-hailing platforms Uber, Ola and Rapido, besides the Centre and the Delhi government, on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking stronger safety measures for women travelling through app-based taxi and ride-hailing services.
“We want to make the private operators of the taxi apps accountable. That is the reason we are issuing notices,” the bench observed. The court passed the directions while dealing with a PIL filed by Aditya Sehgal, which seeks a comprehensive overhaul of safety mechanisms for women using app-based cabs, bike taxis and other ride-hailing services. During the hearing, counsel appearing for Sehgal submitted that app-based companies operate more than two lakh cabs in the Delhi-NCR region but alleged that there is no adequate checking of drivers during night hours. Under the proposed mechanism, booking details, driver identity, vehicle registration number and real-time location could be shared with emergency responders and police, subject to applicable law and privacy safeguards.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the concerned parties to file their replies and listed the matter for further hearing on December 16. The petitioner has also sought the establishment of 24×7 command and control centres to respond to SOS alerts.
The court said it wanted to make private operators of taxi applications accountable for the safety mechanisms provided to passengers.
