Private operators slam Uber, say service must be brought under state control

Rape by an Uber cab driver has once again raised concerns about women's safety in India. While Mumbai's radio cab operators claimed they are safe for a ride, blaming Uber's model of operation, women aren't convinced.

The Uber portal doesn't call itself a taxi service, it describes itself as "Everyday cars... cheaper than a taxi". And this is exactly what the competitors have highlighted, saying their services are safer.

Private operators have demanded that such an app-based vehicle service be brought under state control. Hitting out at Uber, TabCab's managing director Jagdish Purohit said, "Complete verification of drivers through badge process includes police verification. Only for safety public transport vehicles are driven by badge-holders, unlike in the case of Uber or other aggregator services."

In an emergency, the passenger can make a call, whereas in Uber, s/he can only send a mail, he added. In the Delhi incident, the driver had allegedly switched off the GPS, but TabCab claimed their GPS device is hidden and cannot be disconnected and that they also send location updates every 30 seconds.

Meru's verification, on the other hand, includes biometric record of the driver, besides police verification. "We do refresher training of every driver after six months based on the feedback received," said Siddhartha Pahwa, Group CEO of Meru Cabs.

However, movement of only those passengers who opt for the 'Trip Tracker facility' with Meru is tracked. For example, a message is delivered to a person assigned by the passenger reading: "Trip of Ms/Mr... has started from... at...". An update is sent to the person every 15 minutes. Additionally, the mobile app has 'ICE (In Case of Emergency)' feature that can be pressed during emergencies to trigger an alarm; this also sends the passenger's location to his/her two trusted people in 10 seconds.

Ola's director of marking and communication Anand Subramanian said, "Even though we are not a transport service provider, we ensure the partner driver using our software passes the stringent compliance check of his (KYC) personal and professional papers. Every ride of ours is tracked. We also have a continuous ride feedback from customers through 24x7 call centres."