The announcement was made at the meeting under the banner of BPO News Coffee Un'Conference which was also attended by Gurgaon police commissioner Mahendra Lal. The commissioner said before the pilot project was started the safety of women drivers would have to be addressed. However, ensuring the safety of women drivers when they return after dropping the employees is a major concern.

Deepak Kapoor, former spokesman of the Call Centre Association of India, said the project would be executed under the guidance of a team of senior women executives from the BPO industry to ensure that all safety issues were taken care off. He said there had been immense support to the initiative and it would start in 10 days. The women drivers would get training from a reputed government approved institute, he added.

It was stated in the meeting that for the safety of women drivers there could be a provision of deploying women security guards in the cabs.

Although the proposal has found many takers in the industry, yet they are skeptical of its success. Vibhu Narayan, head of infrastructure (NCR) of Genpact, said it was a good initiative. However, the question is whether they will get enough women drivers and can they manage their safety and security. "When we are worried of the women employees' safety, then we will have to address the safety of women drivers also," he added

A major cab service provider, Manav Bahri, said they had started a similar trial two years ago to get women drivers to pick up and drop women foreigners, but it did not work. The intention was positive and it would be a success only when the safety concern of women drivers was addressed, he pointed out.

A "women-only cab service with women-chauffeurs" was started by Revathi Roy in March this year in Mumbai. She plans to start operations in Delhi soon.