The Transport Department is targeting tempo travellers and other commercial vehicles in a series of drives after the alleged sexual assault on a 22-year-old BPO woman employee on Saturday night. However, the department lacks the teeth to convince taxi aggregators to start following their advice.
On Thursday, officials stopped and checked more than 5,000 vehicles to show that they mean business. Most of these drives are being conducted in the suburbs, including Silk Board, BTM Layout, Sarjapur, Electronic City and surrounding areas. At the end of the day, 270 vehicles were seized, and curtains and tints were removed from many more.
“Cooling paper stuck to glass, curtains and focus lights were removed on the spot. We are keeping passenger safety in mind,” said a senior official. In the coming days, the department is set to intensify this drive. But it will take the department some more time to begin regulating taxi aggregators, who have so far escaped the rules imposed on city taxis.
The department is aggressively pushing for legislation that would allow these aggregators to be brought under its ambit.
“It is high time that we introduced legislation that can be applicable to aggregators. The formulation of these rules is complete. The final touches are being given. We hope to have them out in 10-15 days,” said Transport Commissioner Ramegowda.
According to officials, these guidelines, once enforced, will regulate issues such as surge pricing as well as rates charged by the aggregators.
On Tuesday, several cabs belonging to Ola, Meru, Uber, TaxiForSure, Mega Cabs, and Carzonrent were also stopped and checked for violation of permit conditions.
On Tuesday, 205 vehicles were seized.
Taxi aggregators to face the heat soon
