Want to make them accountable: Delhi HC issues notice to Ola, Uber, Rapido on PIL for women's safety in cabs

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to cab-hailing platforms Uber, Ola, and Rapido as well as the Central and the State governments, on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking directions to ensure the safety of women travelling in app-based taxi services. 

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the parties to file their replies. 

“We want to make the private operators of the taxi apps accountable. That is the reason we are issuing notices,” the Court underscored.

It said that the case will be heard next on December 16. 

The Bench passed the order while dealing with a PIL filed by one Aditya Sehgal.

The counsel appearing for Sehgal told the Court that app-based companies operate more than two lakh cabs in the Delhi-NCR region but there is no checking of the drivers at night. 

“There is no checking of these drivers after8 o'clock, or 9 o'clock, whether they are operating for the airport or for any strategic location, whether they are drunk or not,” the counsel stated. 

In his plea, Sehgal has sought a comprehensive overhaul of safety mechanisms for women using app-based cabs, bike-taxis and ride-hailing services.

The plea seeks measures to ensure that the driver and vehicle undertaking a ride match the details displayed on the application. It demands that unauthorised substitutions should allow passengers to cancel rides without penalty and should be recorded as safety incidents, it says.

The plea also seeks 24x7 command and control centres to respond to SOS alerts, with booking details, driver identity, vehicle registration number and real-time location being shared with emergency responders and police, subject to privacy safeguards.

It further seeks automated alerts for material route deviations, periodic gender-sensitivity training for drivers and surveillance mechanisms at vulnerable locations.

The petitioner has also sought a pool of verified female drivers, with women travelling alone being allowed to request or be preferentially allotted such drivers, subject to availability

The petitioner is represented by advocates Vikas Gupta, Aditya Sehgal, Kushik Anand and Sohil Sharma.