Ride Sharing Services have been in the country only for a year. But in the wider world it has been around since 2009 and not without a range of flaws. Uber, the prominent firm in this sector has for long faced criticisms from government regulators in many countries. In almost each of the cases however Uber has managed to get the upper hand after some minor setbacks as it now operates in 699 cities throughout the world including our traffic-ridden Dhaka. But the issue faced in London has raised many an eyebrow. And resonating with this it should be said, that policymakers here need to reconsider the recently passed regulations which hardly tend to address the problems Uber has given rise to in other cities. And to add more to that there have been springing up new ride sharing services almost every other month with relatively less credibility as a constructive service provider like Uber.
The first policy for ride sharing was announced on Monday last, requiring both ride sharing companies and private car owners to register with the government's regulatory authority BRTA. However, there has been no details as to the grounds on which the registrations will be provided. Taxation has also not been included as an issue limiting the government's earnings solely on the first-time registration fees of one lac taka and annual renewal fees of ten thousand taka. That, new car buyers will have to wait for one year before availing their vehicles for ride sharing is perhaps the only somewhat notable feature of the new policy along with the responsibility vested on government authorities to fix the scope and coverage of each ride sharing company in terms of areas according to the company's actual enlisted vehicles, technological coverage etc. The absence of fixed rating of fares also keeps doors open for widespread mismanagement.
Uber's London legal blocks against which it has planned to go for appeal in court has some reasonable issues which include the capricious background checking of drivers by Uber authorities, inadequate security measures taken by Uber for protecting female passengers in particular against its partner drivers and short-coverage of Customer Care in the city.
The same issues pose threats in Dhaka. Recently a news went viral in the facebook IT journalists' community that a female passenger was harassed by a driver of a local ride sharing service over the number she used to contact him for getting a ride. The possibility of passengers committing crimes during their rides against the drivers on his/her stopovers can also not be ruled out.
Alongside these the limitation of maximum number of cars for each service company is also imperative for a city like Dhaka where cash-hungry drivers and investors would not shy away from packing the already car-filled roads with more newly purchased cars, so that they might generate more income through ride sharing companies.
Thus strict background checking and keeping and updating of the remotest personal details of private car owners and drivers should be a mandatory entry into policy for ride sharing services. Police Clearances which are relatively cheap should also be included along with other personal documents both of the drivers and of the passengers. Guidelines for covering road accidents during rides should also be included to secure both passengers and drivers. To secure passengers ride sharing services should provide app-based calls, so that in no way can the driver or anyone else get access to personal contact details. Plus fare rates according to areas should also be fixed by the government.
Furthermore, if it is possible an embargo should be implemented on providing services with more than one ride sharing company at the same time. Any driver if he feels it inconvenient to continue with his current ride sharing partner-company might be allowed to switch to another one at least two months after having registered for his present one. Though this regulation is not present in overseas markets, it can be reasonable given the fickle nature of Bangladeshi drivers.
