Bombay HC directs Centre, State to submit affidavit on implementation of cab aggregator rules

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Central government and the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit within three weeks pointing out the steps taken by the government in implementing the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 for the safety of passengers commuting in aggregators vehicles such as Ola and Uber. Claiming he sustained injuries, and that the aggregator cab service could not take any action but remove the driver from the platform, the petitioner’s advocates Wesley Menezes, Ayaan Bhattacharya and Steven Anthony urged the State to form stronger safety measures to prevent such attacks. Mr. Wesley argued that the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways are not enough to ensure passenger safety as they lack binding compliance measures and there are no laws or regulations that make aggregators criminally liable for their driver partners actions. To ensure passenger safety, the aggregators cabs must implement regulatory mechanisms that includes the background verification of the drivers, installation of 360-degree CCTV cameras in every aggregator cabs, real-time GPS tracking, incident reporting portals and upfront risk disclaimers for passengers using the services, the petition said.