India ordered a halt in December to operations of all unregistered web-based taxi companies after a female passenger was raped in New Delhi by a driver contracted to Uber, a US based cab company.
Uber halted operations after the complaint but resumed in January after applying for a radio-taxi licence. Ola, backed by Japan’s SoftBank Corp, continued operations.
According to the rules set by Delhi’s transport department in December, companies operating taxi-hailing apps are required to install emergency buttons and tracking devices in their cabs.
It may be a good idea to get strict with the cab companies in order to make them adhere to the safety norms. Although, blocking apps may not affect their plying around the capital city. The cabs will still be available for booking on call and on their respective websites. The app block, however, will affect late-night travellers, especially women.