Hi-tech panic button now in Goa cabs to alert police: Minister

Digital meters, fitted to tourist taxis in Goa, will have an automated GPS-linked distress button which will immediately trigger a local police response, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho said on Wednesday.

"Goa is the safest place for everyone, including womenfolk. That is why there is a panic button, in case they find the driver is doing anything funny. Immediately the alert will come to the server, through the server to the control room. Through the control room, a message will go to the respective area from where the police will locate the taxi and go there. This is a part of the services," Godinho told reporters.

The mandatory installation of digital meters follows a directive from the Bombay High Court bench in Goa, which in its order said that all tourist taxis in Goa should be fixed with the GPS-enabled meters.

"They have got a panic button. They have got GPS. They have a location system. Why is this required? Ours is a tourism state, for the safety of especially lady passengers, all women tourists who come," Godinho said.

Safety of women, especially female tourists, has been an issue in the state, which has witnessed a tourism boom over the last decade. Last month, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had to face an opposition barrage in the state assembly over three rape incidents in a week, including the rape of two minor girls at a Goa beach.-IANS