Cabs directed to disable child locks by Jan 16

Bengaluru:  The Karnataka transport department on Thursday issued a directive asking all existing and to-be-registered cabs to disable child lock feature by January 16 and obtain a certificate from the Regional Transport Office concerned on or before the same date.

This follows a recent amendment to the Karnataka Motor Vehicle Act that prohibits issuance of permits to cabs with child locks. Legal action will be initiated against those cab owners who fail to comply with the directive.

The child lock feature, which was introduced to ensure the safety of children sitting in rear seats of cars is often misused by cabbies and is considered as a threat, mostly to women passengers travelling in the night.

Cab aggregators served notice to disengage child locks

The state government informed the Karnataka high court that it has issued notices to cab aggregators directing them to disengage child locks in taxis. 

During the hearing of a PIL, filed by Bangalore Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BSOG) the government advocate informed the court that he would place complete details with regard to the steps taken on the matter by the state and Centre on the next date of hearing i.e January 23. He said the Centre needs to be heard in the case as many aspects fall under its domain.

In its petition, the BSOG contended that crimes against women passengers travelling in taxis have increased and there was a need to curb them by scrapping the child-lock system so that passengers are not at the mercy of the driver.