Lok Sabha Question No. 4750 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-21
Subject: Promotion of Women Drivers in Public Transport
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Byreddy Shabari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  4750

ANSWERED ON  21 st  August, 2025

## PROMOTION OF WOMEN DRIVERS IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT

4750. DR. BYREDDY SHABARI:

Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that safety concerns continue to restrict women's mobility during night hours and resultantly, the number of women-driven taxis, auto-rickshaws and bike taxi services remains extremely low across the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government  proposes to strengthen existing schemes or introduce new initiatives to promote women drivers in public transport as a means to improve female commuter safety, if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the  details  of  existing  or  proposed  measures  such  as  financial incentives,  technical  training,  safety  networks  or  dedicated  ridehailing  platforms  aimed  at  increasing  women's  participation  as public transport drivers;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  mandating  a  minimum percentage of women drivers on mainstream ride-hailing platforms like Uber, Ola and Rapido and if so, the details thereof; and

(e)  the  steps taken/proposed to improve last-mile connectivity and expand  access  to  safe,  women-driven  transport  across  cities  and towns along with expected implementation timelines?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

- (a) to (e)    Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in  line  with  its  commitment  to  enhancing  women's  safety  and promoting  their  participation  as  drivers  in  public  transport,  has initiated several steps to address safety concerns and to create an enabling  environment  that  encourages  women  to  take  up  driving roles  in  public  transport,  thereby  contributing  to  safer  commuting options for women. The steps are as under :
1.      Issued notification G.S.R. 1095(E) dated 28 th  November 2016, amending  the  Central  Motor  Vehicles  Rules  (CMVR),  1989  by inserting  Rule  125H,  which  mandates  the  installation  of  Vehicle Location  Tracking  Device  (VLTD)  and  one  or  more  Emergency Buttons  in  all  public  service  vehicles  except  two  wheelers,  Erickshaw  and  three  wheelers. This  was  aimed  at  enhancing  the safety of women and children in public transport.
2.      Approved a scheme (on 15 th  January, 2020) for implementation of  'Development,  Customization,  Deployment  and  Management  of State-wise  vehicle  tracking  platform  for  Safety  &  Enforcement  as per AIS 140 Specifications in States / UTs under Nirbhaya Framework' at a total estimated cost of Rs. 463.90 crore (including Central share of Rs. 332.24 Crore, as per Nirbhaya Framework).

The  proposed  system  envisages  enhancing  the  safety  of women and girl children by establishing Monitoring Centers across States/UTs, which shall track all the Public Service Vehicles (PSVs)

that are fitted with location tracking device and emergency buttons for raising an alert in case of emergency. The Monitoring Centre will monitor the alerts and coordinate with State Emergency Response Support System (SERSS) for responding to distress calls.

Sanctioned  proposals  received  from  all  36  States/UTs  for establishing Monitoring Centres. So far, 16 States/UTs have commissioned these centres.

3.       Further,  issued  Motor  Vehicles  Aggregators  Guidelines,  2025 on 01.07.2025 which contains following clauses related to women commuter safety :
- i)      Aggregators are required to provide special training on gender sensitivity  as  part  of  the  induction  training  programme  for  all drivers.
3. ii)      An  aggregator  shall  ensure  that  the  motor  vehicles  attached with on-boarded drivers are fitted with a functional Vehicle Location Tracking  Device  or  System,  compliant  with  AIS  140,  along-with  a panic  button,  as  mandated  under  Rule  125H  of  the  CMVR  and connected to the control room of the aggregator with the electronic feed  from  vehicle  location  tracking  device  available  at  integrated command and control centre established by the State/ UT Government.
4. iii) The  aggregator  shall  establish  a  control  room  with  24x7 operations and  ensure  that  all  the  motor  vehicles  onboarded maintain  an  uninterrupted  contact  with  the  control  room.  The control room shall monitor the movements of motor vehicles and the on-boarded drivers
5. iv) Aggregator shall establish a call centre with an active telephone  number  and  e-mail  address,  displayed  clearly  on  its website and on the App, which shall be operational 24x7, providing assistance in English and the official language of the State. These

call centres shall be responsible for  enabling the passenger and/or the driver or any other person to contact the call centre regarding issues  related  to  the  journey  or  the  on-boarded  driver  etc.  and ensuring redressal of the passenger grievances.

- v) The guidelines explicitly prohibit using child lock mechanisms in aggregator vehicles (except for three-wheelers, motorcycles and buses)  preventing misuse that could compromise passenger safety.
2. vi) The  aggregator  shall  ensure  the  safety  of  the  passengers especially  children,  women,  divyangjan  and  compliance  with  the applicable law.
3. vii) Aggregator apps and websites should include features like live location-sharing,  driver  photo  display,  multilingual  support,  zerotolerance policy for use of drugs or alcohol by the driver, cyber-security certification, panic/emergency alert mechanisms.  These features particularly assist women passengers allowing  them  to  share  ride  details  in  real  time,  validate  driver identity, and receive assistance, if needed.
3. As  per  the  decision  taken  in  the   2 nd    Chief  Secretaries Conference  held  in  January,  2023  at  New  Delhi,  Government  has requested all  States/UTs  to  make  sincere  efforts  to  increase  the number of women bus conductors and drivers in State Transport Undertaking buses, as well as in taxis, including app-based cabs.
4. To encourage participation of women as drivers and conductors,  Association  of  State  Road  Transport  Undertakings have felicitated  50  women  drivers  and  conductors  of  State  Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) on women's day on 08.03.2025 at a special felicitation event organized in New Delhi.

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