It was the kind of a reaction that was very much on the cards. A proposed move to ban most of the web-based taxi services in Delhi and asking other states to follow suit was so typical of what we have come to expect over the years. No doubt it's a crisis situation, but an act of overcompensation may not necessarily be the best way to go about things.
Radio cabs, otherwise, have proved to be a breath of fresh air and a highly successful venture. Other than putting private cabs out of business, not much has gone awry. The pros by far outnumber the cons.
Commuting has never been so easy and economical and that too with just the press of a button, thanks to so many sophisticated apps. Because of the highly competitive rates, even the autorickshaws have recently been given a run for their money by some of the cab companies.
Apart from providing transport at the oddest hours, quite often at short notice, the cabs have in more ways than one become the lifeline of the city-dwellers and having them off the roads could lead to a rise in other kinds of anti-social behaviour. After a late night, if people don't have the option of a sober driver, they may be left with no choice but to get behind the wheel themselves, ignoring the deadly consequences.
Leaving people, especially the fairer sex high and dry because of a shortage of cabs, could actually give rise to an even graver situation.
A leaf should be taken out of Mumbai Police's book. A decision was made to undertake a massive census of all cabs and the announcement was made by city's police chief Rakesh Maria, who also said that a database of records would be maintained, and special branches as well as police stations would be involved in the process.
He also added that all drivers would be required to get police verification in order to operate.
However, there would be no ban on Uber and other app-based cabs in Mumbai, said Maria. And that, one feels, was the bottom line.
Calling for a ban on online cab services by the government could be seen as a poor attempt at a populist move which has not gone down too well with the masses if one were to go by the Twitter reactions which have followed.
Divita Joshi @JoshiDivita
#Uber girls are also raped inside houses, so do we stop staying in our homes too?
Durgesh kumar DK @i_am_durgesh
Ban on #Uber => Are we throwing the
baby with the bath water???
#Uber banned by GOVT.Will GOVT ban Parliament?Rape accused can't allowed to run taxi bt can run country @AAPforINDIA
People obsessing over the #Uber ban - #UTurnSarkar now supports Sec 66A of the IT Act. They attacked UPA for using it. Sab daag acche hain?
hang The RAPIST.. banning #Uber is not d solution. what about other employees who were working for #uber genuinely
Mahesh S Koneru @smkoneru Banning Uber is ridiculous..Put in extra safeguards and conduct driver background checks..Banning Uber will inconvenience lots of people
