NCW safety guidelines for women using app cabs: 5 checks to know

On Monday, 5 October 2026, the National Commission for Women issued guidelines for the safety of women passengers using app-based cabs, autos and bike taxis. The text is titled "Guidelines for Safety of Women Passengers Using App-Based and Digital Transport Mobility Services." Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar wrote to the chief secretaries of all states and union territories asking them to implement the guidelines. This note is NP EXPLAINS. The recommendations below are verified as PTI, via The Economic Times, The New Indian Express, The Tribune and The Times of India report them. The NCW text calls them advisory guidelines. States and union territories have been asked to implement them. No deadline was reported.

The guidelines are arranged around the journey: before the ride, during it, and after it. They cover app-based cabs, autos and bike taxis. PTI, The New Indian Express and The Tribune report that scope.

They recommend police verification and criminal-background checks before a driver is onboarded, and periodic re-verification after that. PTI and The Times of India report those checks. PTI also describes them as checks of a driver's criminal antecedents.

They recommend that the driver and the vehicle match what the app shows. An unauthorised change is flagged in the guidelines as a safety concern. If the driver or the vehicle does not match, the guidelines say a woman passenger may cancel without a penalty. PTI, The New Indian Express, The Tribune and The Times of India report that mismatch rule.

They recommend a physical SOS button within easy reach in every cab, linked to a 24x7 command and control centre. PTI and The New Indian Express report that the centre may respond to an SOS alert within 60 seconds and coordinate with local police. The Times of India also reports the physical button.

They recommend real-time alerts when a cab leaves the route, and when a stoppage is prolonged or suspicious. PTI, The New Indian Express, The Tribune and The Times of India report those alerts.

For travel at night, they recommend driver photo verification at the start of the trip, intoxication checks, sharing the trip with trusted contacts, and a safe-drop option. PTI and The New Indian Express report those night measures. They describe the contact sharing as sharing the trip with trusted contacts. The same two reports also include a recommendation of no drop at an unsafe or isolated location, and time-bound grievance redressal. No number of hours or days for that redressal was reported.

The guidelines build on the Road Transport Ministry's Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, and on the Justice J.S. Verma Committee report of 2013. PTI and The Times of India report that those two texts are the base. Some headlines describe the SOS button in stronger terms than the NCW text. This note follows the NCW text. The measures are recommendations inside advisory guidelines.

The Economic Times carries the PTI copy. The Times of India is in the same group, so those two are not two separate agency accounts. The New Indian Express and The Tribune are separate reports. Together that is the four-source set used here.

A check at about 8:23 am IST on 8 October found the guidelines still advisory, with no withdrawal and no change, in The Economic Times with PTI, The New Indian Express and The Times of India. ETAuto, a Times of India Pune report and Policy Edge were also named in that check as consistent with the same account. This page does not add links for those three, because they are not in the source list. An earlier pass on the same guidelines was recorded at about 9:19 pm IST on 6 October. This note was posted at 8:30 am IST on 8 October.

No cab company is named. No deadline for the states or the union territories was reported. The Commission has asked them to implement advisory guidelines. The five checks in the title are the driver check, a match between the app and the cab, the SOS button, route and stoppage alerts, and the night measures.