Bangalore: While the murder of Tania Banerjee may not have anything do with cabs hired by business process outsourcing (BPO) firms or call centres, the police are not happy with the security provided to employees by the managements.

Seven months after the murder of a woman call centre employee by the driver of a taxi hired by her employers, the city police report security arrangements have fallen short of stipulations.

Just a fortnight ago, Commissioner of Police Neelam Achuta Rao held a meeting with representatives of about 70 companies who had women staff working night shifts. "Many companies have not even seen to it that the vehicles hired for the staff do not have opaque windows," he said. The managements should insist that the vehicles hired by them did not have sunscreen films covering their windows, he asked.

A point of contention was the "police verification" of antecedents of all drivers, including those of hired cabs, used to transport night shift employees. Some of the company representatives wanted the verification fees reduced from the current Rs. 3,000 for each case. Senior police officers said it was for the Government decide on the issue.

The police had asked the companies to ensure that vehicles hired by them did not carry any weapons that might be misused by drivers and regulate the working hours of drivers. Senior executives were asked to conduct surprise checks on the hired vehicles.

To ensure the security of employees within office premises, the managements were asked to install proper access control, closed circuits television and concealed video cameras to check the movement of staff and any visitors.

Most BPO and IT firms, which had been taking part in these meetings, had told the police they were sending security guards with the vehicles transporting employees between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. They were not giving out telephone numbers of employees to drivers and were notifying the employees in advance about the vehicles transporting them. They were avoiding picking up women employees first or dropping them last.

The police said changes made in the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act for women to be employed on night shifts placed the responsibility on managements to ensure the safety of women workers. This included safe transportation to and from places of work.

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