The Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), on its Twitter handle, announced that all passenger transport vehicles will be required to be fitted with a GPS device and panic button from April 1, 2018.

In a move that can be seen as a way to improve safety for individuals who utilise passenger transport vehicles, the road transport ministry has announced that every passenger transport vehicle, including taxis and buses, will mandatorily need to be equipped a GPS tracking device and a panic button.

Image courtesy: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India -- Twitter handle.

As per the discussions between the industry and the government since past one year, there has been a unanimous decision that installing a panic button couldn't serve much purpose, unless there was a way to track the exact position of the vehicle.

With the central government's deadline existing passenger transport vehicles along with new vehicles would now have the safety feature in place. The state government will ensure that the safety system is in place.

As per the government notification, the devices shall be fitted by the manufacturer or dealer or the operators.