The State government on Wednesday told the Karnataka High Court that rules would be amended to regulate the mechanism for deactivating the child lock system in all types of taxis, including those operating under technology-based taxi aggregators in the State.
A submission in this regard has been made a government counsel before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice S.G. Pandit during the hearing of a PIL petition filed by Bangalore Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
However, the court expressed its dissatisfaction when the counsel said that it would take a couple of weeks to amend the rules, as the amendment to be made to the rule is required to be processed at different stages.
It has been contended in the petition that the child lock feature, introduced in cars in 1980s as a safety norm to prevent children sitting in the rear seats from accidentally opening the doors, has in the recent past become a contentious issue posing a threat to the safety of women travelling in taxis. A woman seated on the rear seat will have no option to open the doors from inside if the child lock key feature is active, as this allows opening of doors only from outside. As the child lock key can be accessed and changed only when the door is open, it has become handy for anti-social elements to misuse this safety tool.