I am frequent private cab commuter of Delhi NCR, and every time when a crime happened with a woman in such cab, I get scared to my deepest of thought. Could I be the next?
Yet again a molestation case happened in an online ride-hailing service cab on 1st of June. A 26 years old lady booked an early morning cab and while going to the destination, the driver molested her and forced her to strip for photos. The ride started around 2 AM morning and on the way, the driver changed the route saying the one he took was the shorted at that moment. He then stopped at a planned spot and molested the lady. She could escape saying she would not report it anywhere, that eventually she did and the driver was behind the bars within an hour of reporting.
It was little relief that the lady is alive and the criminal is under custody. However, no matter what steps these private cab service providers are taking to make rides safer for women, the cases keep coming. Here is the list of cases happened in either Old or Uber cabs in past 4 years:
Now let's take a look at the safety measures available in these two giant cab services:
In recent years, the number of cabs on Indian roads has increased so much as this is a lucrative employment for young men from lower income groups. They don’t understand what is the meaning of background verification. They don’t clearly follow the guidelines set by the cab company. They commit crimes in the fury of thoughts and the notion of never been tracked.
Although technology can play a vital role in making the whole cab-hailing system more secure. If implemented and maintained well, each and every ride can be tracked until the destination and with the help of local police, the chances of crimes can be zeroed out. For example, if a driver is changing the set route, there has to be a mechanism for reporting in company’s center and the driver can be alarmed about the consequences. Those panic button who mostly don’t work can play a role in giving outside crowd a hint that something is not good inside the cab.
Also, there has to be a proper training of the drives. They should be made aware of the consequences of bad behavior or crime. In recent Bengaluru case, the driver did not know that his verification had passed his details to the police and because of that, it was easy to catch him after crime reporting.
All I can wish that no one ever becomes the victim of such crime. These cab providing companies do want to keep their reputation maintained. However, the narrow mentality of people of our society still feels it is okay to take advantage of any woman. Not sure when that will change!
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| (Image from : https://www.firstpost.com) |
It was little relief that the lady is alive and the criminal is under custody. However, no matter what steps these private cab service providers are taking to make rides safer for women, the cases keep coming. Here is the list of cases happened in either Old or Uber cabs in past 4 years:
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| Credit : scroll.in |
Now let's take a look at the safety measures available in these two giant cab services:
- Background verification of drivers with Aadhar mandatory: Ola
- Emergency button in the app to send alert to the response team: Ola
- An anonymous rating for drivers: Uber
- A detailed feedback option to rate drives based on their behave, skills and punctuality: Ola
- Panic buttons in the cab (not all the cab have them yet): Made mandatory by Delhi government for all types of private taxies
- Real-time Id tracking: Uber
In recent years, the number of cabs on Indian roads has increased so much as this is a lucrative employment for young men from lower income groups. They don’t understand what is the meaning of background verification. They don’t clearly follow the guidelines set by the cab company. They commit crimes in the fury of thoughts and the notion of never been tracked.
Although technology can play a vital role in making the whole cab-hailing system more secure. If implemented and maintained well, each and every ride can be tracked until the destination and with the help of local police, the chances of crimes can be zeroed out. For example, if a driver is changing the set route, there has to be a mechanism for reporting in company’s center and the driver can be alarmed about the consequences. Those panic button who mostly don’t work can play a role in giving outside crowd a hint that something is not good inside the cab.
Also, there has to be a proper training of the drives. They should be made aware of the consequences of bad behavior or crime. In recent Bengaluru case, the driver did not know that his verification had passed his details to the police and because of that, it was easy to catch him after crime reporting.
All I can wish that no one ever becomes the victim of such crime. These cab providing companies do want to keep their reputation maintained. However, the narrow mentality of people of our society still feels it is okay to take advantage of any woman. Not sure when that will change!
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Thought provoking post Shipra, this really needs to stop now!!!
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