What do you do when you need a safe transport option late at night? You book a cab. But what if the driver who comes to pick you up has a criminal history? Last week, a woman in Greater Noida was raped by an Uber driver. The Noida Police later found that Uber had not followed the verification process for the driver, and he was not even registered. The driver was using his friend’s account for driving the cab. All cab drivers are required to procure a certificate from the police stating that the driver in question has no criminal record. But when we spoke to multiple cab drivers, they said that background checks by the police as well as cab aggregators are hardly adequate, and rules can be – and are – easily flouted. In the last five years, most incidents involving cab drivers, from the 2014 Uber rape to an Ola driver abducting a doctor in 2017, to the recent Greater Noida incident, had one thing in common – the background of these drivers was not verified.Drivers tell us that cab service providers do not do their own background checks and rely on police verification – which is not difficult to obtain. Some drivers forge their address in their police verification documents or drivers’ license without getting caught, or have an agreement with other house owners. A driver who lives in Ashok Nagar tells us, “We only need to produce a local address, it can even be of a friend. Some cab drivers have agreements with house owners who approve that the said cab driver is living in this place. I gave my sister’s address two years back and received the police verification certificate, and no cop has visited to confirm my address in the last two years.”What if a police official does visit? A driver who lives in Mayur Vihar, says, “I have given my correct address, but I was on duty when a cop came to my house for verification. My son signed for me and the police official didn’t ask anything. It is not necessary to be present. Someone else can sign for you. Even at cab companies’ offices, if the driver is not present during registration, it’s not an issue. I have signed a number of times at the office for other drivers whom I know. All these rules are flouted daily, and it is only when an incident happens that it becomes an issue.”Often, police officials do not go to the address provided for verification. A cab driver who lives in the Sarai Kale Khan area, says, “Many drivers forge their address and are never caught because police rarely verifies the address. Only when an incident is reported does all this come to light. Dus din mein sab bhool jate hain.” Another cab driver from Paschim Vihar adds, “For background check, cab service providers rely on the police. If you have a police verification certificate, the cab company won’t crosscheck.”Last December, when Gurugram Police nabbed four robbers for looting people on the Gurugram-Delhi Expressway, they were found to be registered cab drivers. A cabbie says, “It is easier to drive a cab in NCR than in other cities. It’s rare that anybody’s application for verification is rejected. Even if an address is found to be unreliable, one can get a police verification certificate for Rs 3-5K.”While both the police and cab aggregators tell us that all is well, and the incidents from the news are exceptions, cab drivers have a different version. Many of them have stories of “other drivers” who easily duck rules and are not caught by either the police or the cab service provider. “When we go for registration at any cab service provider, they ask more questions about the condition of the car than about the character of the driver. They ask about the seat covers, engine condition, music system, and so on. But they don’t ask any question to check the driver’s background,” says a driver who lives in Shahdara , without wishing to be named.Scrutiny by riders in the case of a fake address won’t help, but cab drivers say that riders should report every time the number plate and driver’s photo doesn’t match with the details they have received. A cab driver from Noida says, “I know many drivers who run three cars with just one account. If a passenger questions them, they reply, ‘gaadi kharab hai’. Surprisingly, most passengers believe this. But it is also the responsibility of the riders that when they get into a cab, they check the license plate and driver’s face. If they don’t match the driver details on their phone, they should report it immediately. It will prevent future misuse.”

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