Bengaluru: The city police have woken up. Following the harrowing experience of an MNC female employee in Delhi last week, with an Uber taxi, the city police and Transport Department have made permits mandatory for all taxi aggregators. By December 31st, background verification of all cab drivers in the city will have to be completed.

City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi and Transport Commissioner Rame Gowda told presspersons here on Tuesday that permits are necessary for aggregators because “they have to be equal stakeholders in ensuring passenger safety and cannot just focus on profits.” Earlier they held a meeting with representatives of aggregators and cab operators.

They informed reporters that none of the 11 aggregators in the city, including Ola Cabs, TaxiForSure and Uber, has a permit. Mr. Rame Gowda said: “They have to obtain a permit now if they want to do business. If required, we will amend the Motor Vehicles Act for this.” So far, aggregators were exempted from permit because they do not own a fleet of their own.

The onus of making drivers follow permit conditions lies on the aggregators. “The aggregators should ensure that their drivers are registered, have a proper background verification done by the police before this month-end and are mandatorily following all the 25 permit conditions laid down by the Transport Department,” Mr. Gowda said.

Mr. Reddi said cab drivers could apply for verification by paying a fee of Rs. 250 at the Police Commissioner’s office or online by logging on to http://bcp.gov.in

Listing some of the important permit conditions, Mr. Rame Gowda said all the 3,539 city taxis in Bengaluru should be painted in yellow color. Drivers should compulsorily wear blue colored uniforms and prominently display their name, address, photograph, license and permit details inside the vehicle. Violators will be penalized, he added.