CHENNAI: A policy document to bring in strict regulations for call taxi operators in Tamil Nadu is to be drafted next week by the transport department.
Though the plan to draft it was on the cards for quite some time following a High Court directive, its need became acute following the recent rape by a driver of a call taxi operating under Uber in Delhi, sources in the department told Express.
The document would seek to address the plethora of questions on the lack of a regulatory mechanism for call taxi companies, the transport official said. “Currently, call taxis don’t have a license under the brand name they operate. The vehicles are individually owned and liable for penalty when apprehended by officials,” the sources said.
The new regulation would ensure that all the call taxis operating under a brand name would have to be registered in that name and not in any individual’s name. “The cars are used for a commercial purpose and hence they will have to obtain a license,” another official said. This would ensure that there would be a proper greivance redressal mechanism as well. Though call taxi companies claimed to have an operational GPS, there wasn’t any regulatory mechanism to authenticate those claims, he added.