IT cabs unleash terror in Bangalore

IT cabs unleash terror in Bangalore

Daily News and Analysis


BANGALORE: Their yellow boards invoke nothing less than sheer terror among Bangalore’s road users. These are cabs, hired by IT-BPO companies to shuttle employees between offices and homes.

The untrained and reckless drivers of these cabs tear down the city’s roads, jumping traffic lights and breaking all rules, creating chaos, fear and accidents. While their techie passengers panic inside, terror-struck passers-by often make way.

``Accidents by these vehicles are on the rise,’’ admits Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M.A. Saleem. The number of mishaps has shot up from about 5,000 last year to 6,300 so far this year. About 600 of these involve BPO-IT vehicles, according to studies. Bangalore has about 1,400 new economy companies that employ close to three lakh people. Most companies hire vehicles to ferry employees and at any point of time about 6,000 of these can be seen racing across the city.

In all, Bangalore has 22 lakh vehicles —six times more than its roads can cope with— owned in good measure by cash-rich software employees. The thousands of taxis hired by the companies, driven by devil-may-care drivers, only add to the chaos. ``Next week, we will meet the owners of the cab companies to discuss the dangers they are causing,’’says Saleem.

Global Positioning System (GPS) was once considered to regulate vehicles’ movements but it proved too expensive. Some cab companies use radio communications to track movements.

Many cabs sport stickers with `helpline’ numbers for reporting dangerous driving. ``But the numbers rarely work and often the driver is simply given a warning and let off,’’ says a manager. With experienced drivers in short supply, cab owners are reluctant to sack errant ones.

Neelima Suresh, a call centre employee says, “When I was returning home recently, my cab driver began to race against another cab. The cab ahead rammed into an auto. When this was reported, the driver was simply warned.”

Some like Novell Software prefer to hire buses and minibuses . “The chances of accidents are less with these,’’ points out Novell’s senior manager S.
Hemkumar.