The intelligence agencies and Defence personnel have been asked not to take cab aggregates like OLA or Uber share facilities for going to their offices as this will expose their identity and house locations. The officials have been advised to use their own officials’ cars and personal vehicles.
According to sources, specific instructions have been issued not to use shared or pool taxis for sensitive locations like North and South Block, Rashtrapati Bhawan, key places in Lutyens’ zone and Delhi Cantonment in Delhi. “The precautionary measure has been taken to keep the identity of officials and their destination secret so that the information that may be revealed to the co-passengers or driver can used to target them, specific locations or dignitaries,” the sources said.
Sources said that officials have also been directed to avoid commuting with online or mobile application-based cab aggregates as their numbers and pick up and drop locations will be known to the the drivers of these vehicles. “On frequent usage of mobile application-based cab aggregators, your travel pattern is easily accessible to the these companies thus exposing your residence and office locations to some one else,” said a source in the security agency citing the instructions they have been given.
Source further pointed out that the pool and share facilities leaves vulnerable as co-passengers automatically comes to know your name, pick up and destination locations leaving your more vulnerable. “In case if they don’t have or could not manage to do so, they should use public transport buses or autorickshaws,” sources said.
Also pool and share rides by cab aggregators OLA and Uber are illegal across the country for now and they are allegedly operating illegally in violation of Motor Vehicles Act-1988. “Ride-sharing is not allowed in the Act.
Contract carriage licenses issued to private aggregators do not allow cabs to pick and drop passengers from different points. This accounts for permit violations,” said a senior officer adding that the ride-sharing could not be allowed till the Union government amended the Act.