On 09 August 2024, a female trainee doctor was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata (here). The Kolkata Police arrested the accused, Sanjay Roy, and the CBI is currently investigating the case. This incident has shocked the entire country, leading to protests across India demanding the strictest punishment for the accused (here, here). Amid this, a post claiming that the police have initiated a free travel scheme for women during late-night hours is going viral on social media platforms (here, here, here, and here). The post asserts that any woman who is alone and unable to find a vehicle between 10 PM and 6 AM can contact the police at helpline numbers 1091 and 7837018555 to request a vehicle, and a police vehicle will safely drop her home at no cost. In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in this post.
Claim: Police across India have launched a ‘free ride’ scheme to ensure the safety of women traveling between 10 PM and 6 AM. The helpline numbers for this service are 1091 and 7837018555.
Fact: The helpline number ‘7837018555’ is associated with the ‘free ride’ facility launched by the Ludhiana Police in Punjab. Women traveling alone within Ludhiana city limits between 10 PM and 6 AM, and who are unable to find a vehicle to reach their destination can call 1091, 7837018555, or 100 to request police assistance. This scheme was launched by the Ludhiana Police in 2019. The number 1091 is a pan-India women’s helpline operated by the National Commission for Women. Women in distress can call this number for help, and their call will be forwarded to the Women Safety Police Wing of the respective state, allowing local police to provide necessary assistance. While reports indicate that several state police are offering similar ‘free ride’ schemes for the safety of women traveling late at night, there is no such pan India ‘free ride’ scheme is being implemented by police across the country. Hence the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To verify the accuracy of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search on the internet. However, we did not find any reports about police across India having launched a “free ride” scheme to ensure the safety of women travelling between 10 PM and 6 AM. During this search, we found a report published by Hindustan Times in December 2019. According to this report, the Ludhiana Police launched a “free ride” scheme in December 2019 for women to travel safely late at night. If a woman is alone and unable to find a vehicle to get home between 10 PM and 6 AM, she can call the police helpline numbers 112, 1091, or 7837018555 to request the service. Additional news reports about the scheme launched by the Ludhiana Police in December 2019 can be found here.
To determine whether the Ludhiana police helpline number 7837018555 is currently operational, we called the number. A police official from the Ludhiana Police Control Room responded to our call and explained that the free ride scheme is available only for women travelling within Ludhiana city limits. The official further stated that between 10 PM and 6 AM, if a woman travelling alone cannot find a vehicle to reach her home or destination, she can call 1091, 7837018555, 112, or 100 to request a free ride. The police will then pick her up and drop her at her destination at no cost.
The number 1091(here, here) mentioned in the post is a pan-India women’s helpline operated by the National Commission for Women. Any woman in distress can call this number to request help. When you call 1091, your call will be forwarded to the Women Safety Police Wing of the respective state from which you are calling, allowing the local police to provide the necessary assistance.
We further investigated to see if similar schemes are operational in other states across the country. According to reports (here, here, and here), a similar ‘free ride’ scheme to provide free transportation for women during the night was launched by the Prakasam district police in Andhra Pradesh in 2019. The Andhra Pradesh police expanded this scheme statewide in January 2020 to provide free transportation for women and the elderly from 9 PM to 6 AM.
To determine if the scheme is still operational, we contacted the Andhra Pradesh DGP office. A police official from the DGP office confirmed that the scheme has been operational across Andhra Pradesh since its inception in 2020. The official also stated that women in need of assistance can call 100, 112, or 1091, or use the Women Safety App (formerly known as the Disha App).
A similar ‘free ride’ scheme to provide free transportation for women who are alone or stranded without means of transportation was launched by the Nagpur police in Maharashtra in December 2019. This scheme operates from 9 PM to 5 AM. To determine if the Nagpur police helpline number 07122561103 is currently operational, we called the number. A police official from the Nagpur Police Control Room responded and confirmed that the scheme is active and available only for women travelling within Nagpur city limits. The official also stated that between 9 PM and 5 AM, any woman travelling alone who cannot find a vehicle to reach her home or destination can call 100, 112, 1091, 07122561103, or 07122561222 for assistance.
We then contacted the Telangana Police (by dialling 100) to find out if there is a similar “free ride” scheme for women travelling late at night in the state of Telangana. A police official from the Telangana Police Control Room informed us that there is no specific scheme of this kind. However, the official stated that any woman in distress can call 100, and the Telangana Police will provide necessary assistance. Women who install the T-Safe app or dial 100 and select option ‘8’ will have their journeys tracked by the police to ensure safety. An advertisement made by the Telangana Police about this initiative can be viewed here. The Hyderabad City Police also clarified on their official X (Twitter) account that no such free ride scheme for women travelling alone during late hours is currently in operation.
The Karnataka State Police also clarified on their official X (Twitter) account that no such free ride scheme for women travelling alone during late hours exists in the state and advised citizens to be cautious of such posts. Furthermore, the Karnataka Police Department has urged citizens to call 112 for emergency assistance.
Earlier in 2019, several posts went viral sharing the same numbers (1091 and 7837018555), claiming that Kolkata Police had introduced a ‘free ride’ scheme for women travelling late at night. In response to these posts, Kolkata Police clarified on their social media accounts (Facebook , Twitter) that no such specific scheme had been launched and that the viral posts were incorrect.
To sum up, Police across India have not launched a ‘free ride’ scheme to ensure the safety of women travelling between 10 PM and 6 AM. The helpline number ‘7837018555’ is associated with a ‘free ride’ facility introduced by the Ludhiana police in Punjab while the number 1091 is a pan-India women’s helpline operated by the National Commission for Women.
