Report with screenshot if app cab cancels: Kolkata Police

KOLKATA: With app cabs cancelling bookings at the drop of a hat nowadays, traffic police has requested passengers to take a screenshot of their bookings and report refusal to them along with the date, time, location and other basic details. Rampant cancellations had started during the festive season and the problem assumed alarming proportions after the massive hike in petrol and diesel prices.
The police top brass has asked the public grievance cell of the traffic unit to look into each allegation and take “appropriate measures”. Cops announced the strong measures following multiple complaints on the Kolkata Police Twitter account, where passengers claimed app cab drivers had cancelled their booking after knowing their destinations even during the day. “A long-term solution, involving all stakeholders, is being planned to stop passenger harassment,” said DC (Traffic) Arijit Sinha.
The police are not limiting their action to individual cases. For a longterm solution, they plan to ask all app cab aggregators to share their cancellation policy. “We will ask about the permit provisions. App cabs are not like normal state carriages which can be flagged down on the road. It is booked through an app service where the companies are not even owners of the car. Hence, they enter into a contract with multiple clauses with their driver partners. We need to study the agreement to decide on punishments these violations can attract,” said a senior traffic department officer.
When contacted, the city’s two biggest aggregators said they would “get back soon with their cancellation policy”. “We have a very passenger friendly policy. We will share the details right after Diwali,” said one of them. App-cab drivers cited the lack of passengers on return journeys and the destinations being far away from cabbies’ homes as the major reasons behind cancellations.
App cabs in Kolkata had gained popularity given the frequent refusals by yellow taxis drivers at that time. In fact, then transport minister Madan Mitra had launched the “No Refusal” taxi movement to stop errant drivers from denying passengers rides. But with time, the practice seems to has crept in even among app cab operators. “I was heading to a hotel in Rajarhat barely 5km from the airport. But three drivers cancelled my trip upon hearing the destination. A fourth one finally agreed,” said Namrata Sharma, a businesswoman from Guwahati.