Background check of cab drivers in Mumbai: Of 26,901 cabbies only 836 get green signal

Out of 26,901 taxi drivers who were being investigated by the Mumbai police as part of a character verification drive after the Uber cab rape in New Delhi, only 836 managed to get character certificates from the Mumbai police. [caption id=“attachment_2072619” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In December last year, the Mumbai police started this exercise to check and verify the background of all taxi drivers - public and private - after the Uber incident, according to Indian Express. However, after nearly two months, the police got details of around 26,901 taxi drivers from the RTO, out of which 20,237 had to be sent back as the addresses were incomplete, according to Mid-Day. The Mid-Day report said that there are approximately 45,000 taxi drivers in Mumbai. “For the remaining 6,664, we started the verification process and have completed it for around 1,300 till date, of which we have given character certificates in 836 cases and 464 were rejected,” Mid-Day quoted DCP Dhanajay Kulkarni, spokesperson of the Mumbai Police, as saying. “We found that 430 of these 464 drivers were not staying at the addresses that they had stated while applying for a permit, while background verification of 33 others threw up reasons to enter adverse remarks in their verification reports, and one driver had died and his status had not been updated,” Indian Express quoted Kulkarni as saying. The Mid-Day report adds that the number of drivers with completed verification process is less than 3 percent of the total number. This development comes to light on the same day when the Uber rape victim accused Uber in a lawsuit filed in US court of failing to properly investigate the alleged assailant’s background. The Uber rape incident prompted widespread protests in India against sexual violence and led to demands for more effort to ensure women’s safety. It also added to the legal woes the ride-service company Uber is facing around the globe even as it attracts more customers and investors. Protesters in India called for a permanent ban of Uber. (With inputs from AP)