In view of latest incidents of molestation and harassment of women passengers while using Ola and Uber, Govt. has come up with some solutions which can be soon made a rule.
Two major suggestions which have been proposed are;
- An all-women pool ride.
- The facility for women to choose their co-passengers during a shared ride.
Can these rules stop harassment of women?
Women-Only Pool Rides With Ola and Uber?
Recently, few cases were reported where drivers and co-passengers molested women co-passengers during a shared ride.
Taking notice of these incidents, Union women and child (WCD) minister Maneka Gandhi and Union Transport Ministry have come up with suggestions for Uber and Ola.
Minister Maneka Gandhi has come up with a suggestion that from now on, women passengers should be able to choose their co-passengers. While booking a ride, they can get an option to check out the ratings and feedbacks about their would-be co-passengers, and accordingly chose to board the cab or not.
An Uber spokesperson reacted on this suggestion by saying:
“We are committed to working with the government and other stakeholders towards partnering on road as well as rider, driver safety initiatives and moving our cities forward.”
Reaction from Oa is still awaited.
All-Woman Shared Rides?
Meanwhile Road Transport Ministry has suggested that Ola and Uber should ensure that their pool rides are dedicated for women: An all-women shared ride.
In case this is implemented, then it would be similar to reserve coaches of trains and reserve seats of women in buses. However, Uber and Ola, both will have to modify their basic algorithm and implement some major changes in their business model.
This may also lead to lesser rides, as it is not possible that only women would be booking cabs at one given time. This may have some financial impact on the on-demand cab apps.
Another suggestion which was shared by the Ministry involves an automatic alert system, in case the driver takes a different route than the one suggested by the cab company.
As of now, in terms of security and safety, both Ola and Uber have SOS button for the passengers (both male and female); and the facility to share the route with their friends and families.
Meetings between representatives of Uber and Ola and Transport Ministry is currently on.
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