Cab operators cock a snook at safety norms

New Delhi: Dr Srikanth Goud's kidnap for ransom case once again proves that private cab operators like Ola do not verify the antecedents of their drivers at all. Dr Goud had been kidnapped by an Ola driver four days ago who is demanding Rs 5 crore ransom for his release.

Police investigation in the present case revealed that all the documents provided by the kidnapper-driver are fake. The ID used for ingesting (applying) for Ola contract was also fake - in this case he used someone else's ID as a buffer for introduction.

The person whose ID the kidnapper used belonged to one Sanjay Tripathi, another driver. The kidnapper approached one Sanjay Ansari, a broker, to secure the Ola clearance and contract. Ansari ingested the kidnapper’s fake papers through Tripathi's identity for his own consideration either on the basis of the fake documents provided to him or creating the fake documents himself on his behalf.

According to the driver, Tripathi, who has been detained by the police, verification of the ID takes seven days by Ola and it is an established practice. He told The Hans India here on Monday that he only allowed (introduced) the kidnapper's ID papers to be ingested through his registration "in good faith.

" The police also have learnt that the kidnapper tried unsuccessfully to ingest his own ID at least three times earlier to seek the broker's service but failed due to technical reasons.

In this instance, the kidnapper got into the Ola list just two days before committing the crime and the police suspect he was well aware of the Ola practice and pre-planned the crime.

He also planned the kidnap in a zone where no CCTVs are available. It is also learnt that he did not respond to seven other bookings before accepting to pick up Dr Srikant's request from Lakshminagar Metro Station. What is surprising is that this particular app-based aggregator, Ola, has not even heeded to the warnings of the Court too.

The Delhi High Court on May 9, last year, asked all app-based cab aggregators, including Ola and Uber, plying here to give details of their drivers and get their antecedents checked by police, saying safety of passengers cannot be “compromised” with.

“I cannot compromise with the safety of passengers using taxi services in Delhi,” Justice J R Midha said, asking Delhi government and police to check whether all drivers are driving taxis with valid licence.

“All taxi operators are directed to give details of their drivers along with their taxis registration numbers, details of driving licence within two weeks,” the court said, adding that “we have to ensure that no passenger is harmed by any of the drivers in future.” On the basis of information given by taxi operators, it asked the authorities concerned to check the “criminal antecedents” of the drivers within two weeks thereafter.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government is reportedly mulling curbing shared rides by the cab aggregators as under the rules of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, no Contract Carriage could operate like a Stage Carrier picking up and dropping passengers wherever they want to. This was announced a couple of days ago. All such cabs are given Contract Carriage Permits only.

By W Chandrakanth