Home Minister Rajnath Singh Calls for Nation-Wide Ban on E-Taxis

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said he has asked state governments and union territories to ban all web-based radio taxis after the driver of one such vehicle raped a woman passenger in his cab in Delhi.

Rajnath Singh's announcement came as Congress leader Anand Sharma said there was a conflict in the government as Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has spoken against the ban on Uber taxi services.

Rajnath Singh said Delhi Police was examining the "legal liability" of Uber in the case.

"The ministry of home affairs has advised the state governments and union territories to ensure that operations of web-based taxi services are stopped and such service providers which are not licensed with the state governments or union territory administration are prohibited to operate till they get themselves registered," he said in the Rajya Sabha.

Anand Sharma, however, questioned how Gadkari said shutting services was not a solution.

"The government must clarify... your cabinet colleague has criticised the ban on Uber," he said, indicating towards Gadkari.

Gadkari, talking to reporters in the parliament complex Tuesday, said banning Uber, an international taxi-booking service, did not make sense, and added that modern services like these should be encouraged and if there was some lacuna, it should be rectified.

"It doesn't make sense to ban services. Tomorrow, if something happens on a bus, we can't ban that. Similarly, if something of this sort happens on a plane, that too cannot be banned," Gadkari said.

"Modern concepts like these are being implemented in countries like Britain, the US and others, and we too must encourage it," the transport minister said on being asked whether these application-based services should be banned in India.

Uber was banned in Delhi after the 25-year-old woman, who hired a taxi through the service, was raped by the driver Friday night.

Rajnath Singh informed the house that the government "strongly condemns the dastardly act. It will be ensured that all necessary steps are taken to bring the offenders to justice".

Opposition members asked the government what steps were being taken to ensure that all cars with radio taxi services are probed.

Anand Sharma wanted to know whether the government was looking into lapses committed by Delhi Police and the transport department for not doing a background check before issuing license and registeration.

"Someone went to Uber with a transport department certificate and licence, what will they do? What is your mechanism? How are you going to ensure that all radio taxi services, which have thousands of cars, are probed? Create a data bank," Anand Sharma said.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Satish Chandra Misra questioned the use of police control room (PCR) vehicles when such incidents keep occurring.

"What is the utility of the large fleet of PCR vans when they cannot stop such incidents?" Misra asked.

Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said the incident should not be given political colour.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O' Brien questioned if any "concrete action" has been taken by the government for safety of women since the Nirbhaya incident.

Janata Dal-United leader K.C. Tyagi went ahead to say he felt "ashamed to be a man" after such incidents.

BJP leader Vijay Goel also said the government "should issue directions that any PCR van, when called, should proceed immediately instead of demanding that 100 number should be dialled first".

Many other leaders also joined in to express their concern over the situation.

The home minister, however, said many steps have been taken by the government, and the previous government as well, to ensure women's safety.

"Whenever the issue of safety of women and children has risen, every government has taken all necessary steps. Whether it is our government or the previous government..." Rajnath Singh said.

On steps being taken by the government to ensure safety of women, the home minister said the GPS system has been made mandatory for all taxis.

He said the number of CCTV cameras has been increased and the government has identified 255 isolated locations and increased security there.

"Delhi has the highest conviction rate in the country. The national capital has the maximum number of fast-track courts," he said.

However, as soon as the minister finished his reply, Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan remarked: "With lot of pain and angst, I want to say that nothing happens regarding women safety issues."

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien, however, asked her not to make such remarks and said the entire house was united in condemning the incident.