Over 600 mishaps by BPO vehicles each year: Study

Over 600 mishaps by BPO vehicles each year: Study
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: A study by traffic experts has revealed that over 600 accidents in the city each year are caused by drivers of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)/call centre vehicles.

The study conducted by chairman, Traffic Engineers and Safety Trainers (TEST) Prof. M.N. Sreehari states that due to round-the-clock operations of these vehicles, drivers are exhausted and work under duress.

They overspeed to reach destinations quickly resulting in a large number of accidents.

The city has over 1.09 lakh employed in software and BPO companies -- the highest in India. It is estimated that Bangalore has over 30,000 call centre employees.

To ferry them, private vehicles are hired on contract. It is estimated that more than 20,000 trips are made daily by these vehicles according to Sreehari’s study.

Though companies have taken precautions such as notifying contact numbers for violation complaints and training programmes, these drivers continue being road bullies.

Violations like rash and negligent driving, over-speeding, drunken driving, moving against one-way and signal jumping are common among BPO vehicles, the study points out.

‘‘The traffic police have also taken up this issue very seriously. TEST is planning to educate these drivers and to encourage them to work in shifts,’’ Sreehari said.

Sreehari has recommended that these companies work in fixed shifts rather than flexible shifts and that their vehicles operate off-peak hours.

He has also recommended that BMTC should operate special buses for BPO staff so that hired vehicles can be dispensed with as the latter have little or no accountability.

Other recommendations include monitoring these vehicles with the help of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and giving them adequate time for operation; giving incentives to safe drivers; providing comforts to night shift employees to encourage them to stay back in the campus after duty.