A taxi driver in Mumbai welcomed the move by police to conduct background checks
Days after a young woman was raped allegedly by an Uber cab driver in New Delhi, the Mumbai Police has decided to conduct a mammoth exercise all through December in which all 44,500 taxi drivers in the city will undergo background checks. After the background checks, if anomalies are found, then Mumbai Police will move to cancel licenses.
The exercise, which has been ordered by police commissioner Rakesh Maria, will involve drivers of the 3,500 radio cabs, 3,000 air conditioned taxis and the 38,000 regular cabs. Tourist taxis will also be a part of the exercise.
The Mumbai Police Special Branch, Mumbai Police Crime Branch, police stations and the traffic police will be on the job to ensure that the exercise is complete by the end of the year. The police say that with New Year's eve being the peak season for demands of cabs, the deadline has been kept at December 31.
After background checks on taxi drivers are completed, autorickshaw drivers will face the same exercise. According to 2013 figures, there are 2.4 lakh autos in the Mumbai Metropolitan region and 1.5 lakh autos within the city limits. In Mumbai, taxis ply in the island city and suburbs while autos ply only in the suburbs.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) BK Upadhyay told NDTV, "The idea of this exercise is to ensure that taxi drivers in the city have a good character and do not indulge in any crime. We have started a massive drive to verify the antecedents of these taxi drivers and we plan to complete it in fifteen days. Most drivers who have been issued permits by the RTO have been verified by the police. We are now looking for drivers who have not been verified."
A taxi driver welcomed the move and said, "We welcome this move as it will weed out the rotten elements among taxi drivers. We advise women travelling alone to always call home and inform their families about the vehicle number and driver's name while boarding a cab."