Pramesh S Jain & Yogesh K Porwar
I
n the background of few incidents harassment,the Northeast Division police on Thursday held an awareness programs to educate taxi drivers and raise awareness about passengers safety and rules .
Over 100 drivers and members of the airport taxi drivers association,RTO, Traffic and Airport Officials attended the meeting addressed by DCP,Northeast,Sajeeth VJ.
During the interaction it was revealed that the cab drivers demand excess fares and harass passengers .
They would also avoid toll gate and take de tour and round about on Hennur Bagaluru main road to avoid the toll.
This would not only cause concern among the passengers but also leads to harassment,a police officer part of the meeting said .
As per the rule the cabs who not pass through toll should reduce Rs.200 which was included in the fixed taxi fares,but the drivers not only avoid the toll but also collect the toll fee from the passengers, another officer , added.
Some cab drivers have been targeting Airport passengers,particularly women travelling alone.The drivers may stop midway,claim fuel issues,and demand cash to avoid tolls.
They may also threaten to cancel the ride if the passenger refuses and asked them to get down mid-way.
This would not only create a panic situation among the passengers while travelling in different route but also end of verbal altercations and harassment complaints and time consuming,against the drivers .
The association raised the concern that many a times due to misunderstanding and accused violent and rude behaviour of passengers accusing them of fleecing money.
However the police concluded in the meeting that passengers safety and following rules are their main concern and any violation would be dealt strictly he added.
