NCW issues women-focused safety guidelines for app-based cabs

New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) The NCW on Monday issued guidelines for the safety of women using app-based cabs, stressing physical panic buttons, real-time route-deviation alerts, monitoring of prolonged or suspicious stoppages, and the creation of a 24×7 command and control centre by aggregators.

National Commission for Women Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said, “These guidelines seek to strengthen existing safety and accountability measures at the time of booking, during the journey and after completion of the ride, thereby ensuring the safety of women in public spaces.”

“The Commission requests all States/Union Territories to take appropriate measures for implementation of these guidelines,” said a statement.

The “Guidelines for Safety of Women Passengers Using App-Based and Digital Transport Mobility Services” also recommend a time-bound grievance redressal mechanism, verification of driver and vehicle and a facility for penalty-free cancellation in case of a mismatch between the driver or vehicle details displayed on the application.

The guidelines also stressed regular review of safety protocols and standard operating procedures by aggregators, time-bound grievance redressal mechanism, escalation of complaints to law-enforcement authorities and periodic compliance and safety reporting.

“Any unauthorised change in the driver or vehicle shall be appropriately flagged in the application and treated as a safety concern. This is in accordance with Clause 15.4 of the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, which requires an in-app mechanism to verify the identity of the driver undertaking the journey, and Clause 14.9, which requires a clear and high-resolution picture of the driver to be displayed,” said the guidelines.

Stressing the need for building a verified pool of women drivers, the NCW guidelines said, “Aggregators may endeavour to maintain a verified pool of women drivers. Subject to availability and feasibility, women travelling alone may be provided an option to request a woman driver through the application.”

Calling for enhanced security during late-night hours, the guidelines said, “Aggregators shall adopt enhanced mechanisms for verification and monitoring of drivers operating during late-night hours.”

“Measures may include mandatory driver photo verification at trip commencement, measures addressing driver intoxication, auto-sharing of ride details with trusted contacts where opted for by the passenger, enhanced Command and Control Centre monitoring and a safe-drop option at the end of the ride,” said the guidelines.

Apart from focusing on periodic safety and gender-sensitisation training for drivers, the guidelines underlined the need for verification of criminal antecedents, police verification and background checks before onboarding and periodically thereafter.

–IANS

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