SAUDI ARABIA

University asks girls to get prior permission to use Uber, Careem

March 21, 2018
Many female students use app-based taxis to reach the university when private transport is unavailable.
Many female students use app-based taxis to reach the university when private transport is unavailable.

Saudi Gazette report

DAMMAM
— Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University has put a condition that female students who use ride-hailing services such as Uber and Careem should get permission of their parents and guardians. The university has also banned entry of such vehicles into the campus except without valid permits.

The move comes after police arrested a cab driver who worked in one of the ride-hailing companies for sexually abusing a girl having a hearing disability while transporting from her educational institution to her home in Madinah.

The action came at a time when app-based taxis are growing in popularity the country. The university's decision has triggered a heated debate as many female students have expressed their dismay and disappointment and asked the institution to review the decision. Many female students use app-based taxis to reach the university when private transport is unavailable.

Female students of all departments and faculties in the university have been instructed to place an official sticker of the institution on the wind screen of their private vehicles while gatekeepers have been advised not to allow any vehicles without the sticker.

The university, which has 21 colleges, has distributed a form among female students to get approval from parents and guardians to use app-based taxis for transportation.

The university's management, however, downplayed the measure saying it was an organizational procedure followed by all its colleges in different parts of the country.

Khaled Al-Rubaiaan, manager of safety and security department, said the university has put some controls on vehicles coming to and leaving the campus in order to prevent unauthorized entry and to ensure the safety of students.

"The present ban will not be applied on students who have already obtained official permits," he told Al-Hayat Arabic daily. He said the new measure was essential as some app-based cabbies were misusing the campus to expand their reach to neighboring residential districts.

He said students will be able to obtain permits by just bringing the registration of their personal vehicles. Asked whether students are allowed to leave university before time, he said they already issued more than 2,000 permits for students who wanted to leave early.

Students have complained that the checking of vehicles at the gates of Raka campus has created long queues, adding that it was delaying their arrival in lecture halls.

App-based taxis have become popular in the Kingdom since they were introduced a few years ago. The sexual abuse that occurred in Madinah was an isolated case. The incident was photographed and circulated through social media, which led to the cab driver's arrest.


March 21, 2018
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