Cabbies asked to get 'clean chit' by December 31

BENGALURU: Even as a big question mark hung over the future of Uber cab permits in the light of conflicting reports and confusing signals, the Bengaluru City Police on Tuesday ordered all cab drivers to get themselves verified by the police by Dec 31.

“Cab drivers can apply online by paying Rs 250 for verification. We will do the verification, and issue the clearance certificate,“ Bengluru Police Commissioner MN Reddi told ET.

“There is an option to apply offline too, but we would encourage drivers to apply online for speedy processing,“ he added.

The police commissioner said his department has asked the transport department to make the police verification mandatory for holding a driving licence to drive a yellow-board vehicle.

The driver must get an entry made in his vehicle document, and the transport and police department officials will check for this entry henceforth during their routine inspection. Karnataka, meanwhile, has not received any direction from the Centre to ban Uber services in Bengaluru, transport commissioner Rame Gowda told ET.

The transport department, however, has asked taxi operators and drivers to comply with the 25 points it has issued like display of permits and licence, get a 10-year domicile certificate and courteous conduct with customers. The department has also asked taxi operators not to change the headquarters.