Tamil Nadu wants clarity on child-lock system ban in call taxis

The Centre has directed all States and Union Territories to ensure that no call taxi, from July 1, 2019, will operate with the child-lock system.

Image for representational purpose for taxi service.

CHENNAI: The Centre has directed all States and Union Territories to ensure that no call taxi, from July 1, 2019, will operate with the child-lock system. The system in cabs allows the drivers to lock all the doors and hence were at times misused, especially against women passengers.

“When child lock is activated, it locks the doors of the car and misused by criminals in case of taxis especially when used by women passengers,” said a recent directive issued by Ramandeep Chowdhary, Deputy Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The deadline set by the Union government is July 1, 2019.

Officials in Tamil Nadu transport department believe that the directive of the Union government covers only child-lock systems that are manually operated by cab drivers, not the automatic sensor-based locking system that locks all the doors once the cab reaches a specific speed level. “We will be writing to the Union ministry seeking clarifications on procedural and legal aspects,”  said a transport department official.

The ban on child-lock system has received a mixed response in Tamil Nadu, where around 40,000 call taxis are operated. J Ramanujam, president of Thozhargal Car Ottunargal Amaippu Sara Thozhirsangam, said, “The child lock system is a security device. Removing such a system will also endanger the lives of children travelling in call taxis.”

A few others are worried since the directive of the Centre does not specifically talk about the sensor-based automatic door lock system. “We need clarity whether the government wants us to remove only the child-lock system that could be manually activated by the driver or the sensor-based automatic system also,” said P Anbazhagan, president of Tamil Nadu Call Taxi Drivers and Owners Association.

Dilemma

The child lock system in car will lock all doors of a cab. Commuters can’t open the doors as the door buttons would also be disabled. In call taxis, the security system is said to have been misused by criminals against women passengers.

Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways orders removal of child lock in all call taxis before July 1, 2019. Since 2014, cars are provided with sensor-based door auto-lock system which locks the doors automatically once the car speed touches 20 km. 

Call taxi association worried whether the sensor-based auto-lock system will also be banned