In the developing world, Uber/Ola/etc do a great job of filling in for that role. The idea that government is needed for this is pretty silly - Uber/Ola/etc are

In the developing world, Uber/Ola/etc do a great job of filling in for that role. The idea that government is needed for this is pretty silly - Uber/Ola/etc are doing a vastly better job of protecting customers than any government agency I'm aware of. Even a week after the famous Delhi Uber rape case, every woman I know would still prefer to take an Uber/Ola rather than a (government regulated) auto or taxi. After all, Uber/Ola actually care about their reputation and immediately took steps to make rides safer (e.g. privately provided background checks) when they realized the government provided certificate of good character (cost: an 8k bribe) were insufficient. All the government did in response was tell women to spend more money on less safe modes of transportation. (Recall that in the 2012 Delhi gang rape incident, the woman was only on the bus because the government regulated auto rickshaw was overcharging her and she couldn't afford to ride it.)