Rework Taxi Scheme draft: Kailash Gahlot

Citing "lack of clarity", Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has sent back for the second time the final draft of the long-pending 'City Taxi Scheme 2017' to the Transport Department.

The department will have to now work again on the scheme, which was to regulate app-based cab aggregators such as Ola-Uber in the Capital. However, the delay in finalising the policy, which was supposed to be announced last year, puts passenger safety, particularly women, at risk, as these cabs cannot be GPS-tracked by the government till brought under their regulation. Also,'surge-pricing'will be an issue till the policy is in place.

Gahlot had last week, asked the department to "rework" the draft in order to make it more "comprehensive", said government sources.

"The department has been asked to rework on certain aspects, including fares and to allow a different category of vehicles to ply," sources said.

Earlier, the department had sent a draft to the minister, which highlighted bifurcating the scheme into two categories, cab aggregators and taxis.

The Delhi High Court had in 2016 asked the government to frame a uniform policy to regulate cab aggregators, including the base fare, not allowing surge-pricing and GPS-tracking of these vehicles, among others. The court had asked the Centre to form a panel to frame the guidelines for all kinds of taxi services across the states.

The Union Ministry of Road Transport had formed a panel, including experts and the chief secretaries of various states. 

However, sources said that the panel has met only once since it was constituted in 2016.

However, Gahlot told DNA,"The policy is in progress, we will be publishing the draft soon. There were some changes suggested, for instance, allowing bigger vehicles to ply as cabs. We are hoping to get it done by the end of this month."

The department recently set up a Central Control Room to track all the public service vehicles. According to officials, the control room is expected to be inaugurated by the minister before this Republic Day.

The move has come after a number of instances of crime against were reported as well as to strengthen the overall crumbling transport infrastructure.

In 2015, former Transport Minister Gopal Rai had launched a City Taxi Scheme, which is being updated to regulate the growing number of taxis plying under the app-based aggregators such as Ola-Uber.

POLICY CHANGES

• Under the new policy, it will be mandatory to instal GPS and panic button in taxis in the interest of women’s safety. 
   
• The scheme will put a cap on the number of taxis that can be attached to an operator. 
   
• The base fare for taxis will be notified by the government.