The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has intimidated that all transport vehicles in the M1 category (motor vehicle used for carriage of passengers, comprising not more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat) will have to 'Child Lock' feature disabled with effect from July 1, 2019.

In the notification, MoRTH said, "lt has been brought to notice that 'Child Locks' which when activated lock the doors of the car and may be misused by criminals in case of taxis, especially when used by women passengers."

The mandate comes after almost a year of discussion with vehicle and equipment manufacturers to look into the misuse of the feature and ensure women safety in the vehicles. In 2017, a woman passenger was harassed by a cab driver in Bangalore, when he allegedly used the feature to lock the passenger in the cab.

The ruling will now put the onus on both OEMs and vehicle dealers to ensure that M1 category transport vehicles have the 'Child Lock' feature disabled.