IRTE Bats For A Code Of Practice For Safe Taxi Operations In India

The Institute Of Road Traffic Education in association with the Ministry Of Road, Transport and Highways recently organised a two-day conference on 'Safer and Convenient Taxi Operations in India'. The agenda was to develop a national code of practice for taxi operators and drivers in India with focus being on safety, use of technology, comfort, consistency and good service. The guidelines in the code of practice also include the ease of transport for differently abled customers along with the elderly and children as well. The idea of a code of practice for taxi operators and drivers was to set a minimum standards and protocols for the taxi industry in india, which is largely unorganised.

(speakers on the dais on the second day of the conference)

Sanjay Beniwal, IPS, Special Commissioner of Police-Women Safety, Airport and Modernisation, Delhi, was the keynote speaker for the two-day conference and spoke at length about the safety of women, elderly and differently abled passengers taking taxis in India. The other speaker of repute was Trevor Wedge, who was formerly the Chief, Driver Standards Agency in United Kingdom. He stressed upon the fact that the taxi drivers need to be trained for all purposes, starting for courteous service to first aid and everything in between. He also spoke about the rising need for a code of conduct for the taxi drivers and operators in India.

(Trevor Wedge, former chief, Driver Standards Agency, UK, addressing the gathering)

"Taxi service industry in country like India is expected to maintain high standards and provide a high quality of service to the hirer .The impression visitors from India and abroad often can be influenced by the quality of service received from the driver of a commercial passenger vehicle," he said.

Another important point where a lot of deliberation happened was the need of first-aid kits in taxis along with basic first-aid training for taxi drivers as they are the first responders in case of a road accident in the country. In the sense that on most roads in metro cities, there are taxi drivers all across the cities and proper first aid training can be a life saver for an accident victim.

(Garima Bhatnagar, joint commissioner, traffic, Delhi Police, speaks about the predatory behaviour of taxi drivers in India)

The other eminent speaker at the conference was Garima Bhatnagar, who is the Joint Commissioner, Traffic, Delhi Police. Her speech stressed on four points which were the policies in India with respect to transportation, enforcement of traffic rules without leniency, the use of technology in taxi operations and its ancillary services and lastly she spoke about the licensing procedures in India, which needed immediate change.

"The code for taxi and TSR drivers should stress more on their unruly predatory behaviour; most of them misbehave with passengers and park cabs in bus lanes. Th new Motor Vehicle Act on anvil help taming of these public transport drivers in a big way, "she added.