Making GPS Must in Every Public Vehicle

Making GPS Must in Every Public Vehicle

GPS in Public vehicleNew Delhi, India: In a move expected to improve the monitoring of public vehicles in the city, the Transport department is going to table a proposal in the Cabinet which will make it compulsory for all public vehicles to install GPS devices. The proposal is expected to be tabled in September.

“GPS devices have already been installed in new auto-rickshaws and in around 4,600 buses plying in the city. Now, we are looking at installing these devices in all public vehicles such as old auto-rickshaws, Gramin Sewa vehicles, school buses and cabs, contract carriage buses etc. Cabinet approval will be required to fix monthly charges for the monitoring and tracking of such vehicles,” Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami said.

The proposal will fix a rate for SIM cards needed for GPS activation. The scheme will be rolled out soon after its approval.

A Special Task Force, headed by the Union Home Secretary, constituted to look into the safety issues of women in the capital had instructed the Delhi government to install GPS devices in all public vehicles. The direction came in the wake of the December 16 gangrape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus. “The court had also directed us to install GPS devices in all our public vehicles. Once implemented, we will know for instance if a school bus is being used for any other purpose,” an official said.

“Vehicle owners can get the GPS devices installed from any of the vendors registered with the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS). Around 11 vendors have already been identified and more suppliers are expected to be added to the list,” the official added.

Installation of GPS devices will be made part of the permit conditions that need to be conformed to. The Transport department will pay the DIMTS for running an integrated control centre for monitoring all public vehicles. The centre is presently monitoring buses and auto-rickshaws having GPS devices.

Delhi has 55,000 old auto-rickshaws. Permission was granted to introduce 45,000 more under Supreme Court orders. The new auto-rickshaws have GPS-based meters installed in them. While 21,000 such auto-rickshaws have started operating, there have been complaints of non-activation of GPS devices in many auto-rickshaws.

Courtesy: India Express

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