No decision yet on child lock in Telangana, AP

Hyderabad: After receiving a notification from the Delhi government to remove the child lock in taxis, Ola cabs in Delhi and have flagged off more than one lakh taxis with four stickers in their cabs alerting passengers with the message: “Hey you’re taking a cab. Please make sure that the child lock is disabled before you sit inside”.

Drivers have been told to make sure that the child lock is disabled and to inform the customer about it if a child is sitting in the cab. However, this has not been implemented in Telangana and AP because there is no notification by the state government yet, according to cab service providers.

The Union transport ministry ordered for automakers to remove the child lock from cars sold as taxis from July 2019 onwards in view of safety of women in commercial cabs.

The demand for removal of child locks in cabs comes after women have been trapped in cabs by drivers who lock the vehicle’s doors using child lock system.

In 2017, a 32-year-old working woman who hired a cab from Delhi metro station was raped at a secluded spot by the driver after being trapped in this way. A 23-year-old woman in Bengaluru was trapped by the Ola driver using the child lock in December 2017.

Shaik Salauddin, state president of Telangana Four Wheelers Drivers Association, said that if the child lock is activated a passenger cannot open the door from inside. “If a female passenger is travelling alone and the cab driver activates the child lock, she won’t be able to open the door from inside.”

C. Ramesh, joint transport commissioner (IT Wing), said,  “So far we have not received any such orders by the Union transport ministry to implement the orders regarding disabling the child lock in cabs.”