Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the Centre has asked all States and Union territories to stop operations of web-based taxi services such as Uber till they get themselves registered with the concerned authorities.
Mr Singh made the announcement in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday even as the police found that Shiv Kumar Yadav, the cab driver accused of raping a woman executive in Delhi last Friday, could be a serial sex offender.
Calling it a “national shame,” the Minister, however, made it clear that the government was not in favour of banning taxi services but was firm on regulating them.
As members in the Rajya Sabha expressed outrage and anger over the alleged rape, the Minister informed the House that till November this year, 25,000 rape cases had been registered across the country.
Senior Uttar Pradesh Police officers in Mainpuri said Yadav was allegedly involved in a number of sexual crimes, including a rape case last year and a molestation case in 2003, both in Mainpuri. He was also booked several times under the Goonda Act and arrested for carrying illegal arms.
The revelations by the U.P. Police came even as their counterparts in Delhi filed two more FIRs on Tuesday: one against Uber and the second against Yadav for allegedly forging his character certificate.
Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi briefed the Home Minister and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on the progress of the probe.
Mr. Bassi told journalists outside Parliament House that a number of busy places would be brought under the surveillance of nearly 10,000 CCTV cameras.
(With additional reporting by Shubhomoy Sikdar)
