Transport dept collects details of radio cabbies

The transport department on Thursday collected database of all the drivers working under the radio taxi operators to start a systematic evaluation of each taxi drivers and his background including whether they had criminal history and details of their licenses.

While the state transport department had hinted on Wednesday that all web-based taxi services would be banned following an advisory from the central government, no announcement was made until Thursday. State transport minister Diwakar Raote Thursday addressed the Assembly that all the licenced taxi operators and radio taxi providers have been asked to comply with required security measures and submit their reports by December 31 this month. Transport commissioner Mahesh Zagade, said, “I am not happy with the existing security mechanism the operators use.”