Indian origin cabbies in Oz to benefit from ‘late night passenger ID’ proposal

BRISBANE - After a spate of violence against taxi drivers in Australia, many of them Indian, a recommendation to the Queensland Government has said that passengers must show identification if they travel late at night.

In an effort to improve safety in the industry, Workplace Rights Ombudsman Don Brown has given a 110-page report to Industrial Relations Minister Cameron Dick, which will be tabled in the Parliament.

Brown, in his report, has said that passengers travelling after 10pm and before 5am must “produce and have recorded on the taxi’s security camera their driver’s licence or other acceptable form of identification” to improve safety, the Courier Mail reports.

He also recommends tighter controls on cab companies, including taking away their rights to train drivers, and included recommendations to safeguard drivers, by stiffening penalties for people who assault them or don’t pay fares.

Taxi drivers in Australia, including Indians, have been attacked and robbed in separate incidents in Brisbane and other parts of the country.

The report also cited a survey that showed that 77 per cent of drivers had been verbally abused, 51 per cent threatened and a third physically assaulted.

Earlier, in January, an Indian cabbie was bashed by two passengers outside Geelong, Melbourne.

According to reports, the driver had stopped his car in a service lane off Melbourne Road after five passengers refused to pre-pay their fare.

An eyewitness to the incident said two of the men dragged the driver out of his cab and began hitting and kicking him in the middle of the road. (ANI)