NEW DELHI: At a time when the safety of women and children has taken centre-stage across the country over growing incidences of crime, the government has mandated a ‘panic switch’ across all public transport vehicles – taxis and buses – which when activated will alert the local police station about the vehicle’s coordinates by sounding an alarm and sending a live video feed.

Trials have been conducted in certain locations and now the measure has been notified, ensuring that no taxi and public transport vehicle is registered without the system, which the IT Ministery developed IIT, Delhi. The project is supported by the Nirbhaya Fund, which works towards the safety of women. “Women’s safety is a top priority for our government.

Digitalisation has been a high-focus area for us and this will now be harnessed to ensure social security, including the safety of women and children,” IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told TOI. The measure will not only provide panic switches in new vehicles, but will also need to be deployed in existing taxis and buses in a timebound manner.

The panic switch system, when invoked, will generate a loud alarm in the vehicle, and send its coordinates to a server (Police Control Room) to ensure timely help. “The switch system has features like driver authentication, camera interface, tamperproof operation, and health monitoring of the switch,” a government official said. Executives from the auto industry said all new vehicles meant for public transport will carry the system. “We are providing kits that need to be installed at the dealerships before the vehicle is registered,” an official with a top companies said.

Major taxi sellers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Toyotahave already put in place measures to ensure the deployment of the panic switch and the allied infrastructure. Taxi aggregators,such as Uber and Ola,are also expected to mandate the measure for their fleet, especially getting them installed on their existing line-up.

Currently, an estimated 15 lakh taxis are in operation across the country. Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland are also understood to be working towards deploying the panic switch on their buses. However, industry officials said the effectiveness of the system will come through adequate enforcement regarding their deployment bythe staff of the traffic police. “Also, it needs to be ensured the IT systems at the backend work efficiently and seamlessly to ensure there are no disruptions when the panic switch is deployed by someone in trouble,” an official said, requesting anonymity.

The government is also working to sort out any interstate issues between the police network in case of moving vehicles. “These are operational and need to be worked to ensure seamless integration and functioning,” the official said. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways – spearheaded by Nitin Gadkari – has also approved the measure.

