Mumbai: Bombay HC on Wednesday issued a notice to the Centre, the state, and transport aggregators Uber and Ola on a PIL that raised concerns about passenger safety and urged that they be held accountable for the actions of their drivers.
Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar directed the state to reply pointing out the steps taken on the March 7, 2020, order on a PIL. HC had then directed, among others, the finalisation of draft rules under Motor Vehicles Act.
The court was hearing a petition by Andheri East resident and squash coach Amitoj Singh. On April 28, 2018, he was allegedly assaulted by a driver who, instead of picking him up from the designated location, forced him to walk 100m with his heavy sports kit bag in the blazing sun. The driver also refused to increase the cooling and drove at a snail’s pace. Worli police lodged an FIR against the driver and a chargesheet was filed before the Bhoiwada magistrate. Singh wrote to Uber and various aggregators about safety measures, but he received no reply. His research found a spate of serious crimes by drivers of Uber and Ola that were highlighted in media reports.
Singh’s advocates Wesley Menezes and Ayaan Bhattacharyya argued that despite the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines framed in Nov 2020, the safety of passengers travelling in such vehicles is still at risk. Also, these guidelines are not implemented in Maharashtra, they said.
On HC’s query if the state has framed the rules, govt pleader Poornima Kantharia said it’s in the process as “everybody has to be heard”. “Meanwhile, we have adopted the 2020 guidelines issued by the central govt,” she said.
