If you book a ride, rickshaw or bike through an app in Lahore, the driver may soon have been vetted by the police first. Chief Traffic Officer Syed Abdul Rahim Sherazi has told every online taxi and ride-hailing company to give Lahore traffic police the full records of their drivers so they can be verified.
Anyone with a serious criminal record will be barred from working on these apps. Sherazi gave the order in a meeting with company representatives about passenger safety and security technology.
Police put the size of the problem in figures. Around 100,000 rickshaws, motorbikes and cars in the city work through ride-hailing apps. Of the 10,000 commercial drivers whose backgrounds police have screened so far, 2,050 turned out to have a record, and 3,700 cases are registered against that group in total.
Vehicles must also carry dash cameras and advanced trackers, plus the QR-based Panic Button, as soon as possible. Firms that fall short face strict action, though no deadline or penalty has been given.
The order builds on an earlier traffic police decision to bring panic buttons, dashcams and GPS trackers to online cabs in phases, using the Punjab government’s QR panic button scheme.
Under the Punjab Safe Cities Authority’s QR Panic Button scheme (run alongside its Public Safety app), a code inside the vehicle lets a passenger scan it to check the vehicle and driver and reach the police emergency line. Sherazi says the cameras and trackers will also help police investigate accidents and crimes.
Police have given no deadline for the dashcams and trackers, so the next thing to watch is a compliance date, and how many of the roughly 100,000 vehicles carry a panic button by then.
