Karnataka transport department issued a statement on Saturday which stated: “Companies which have not obtained licenses from the concerned authority should stop operations with immediate effect”. In April this year, they had to temporarily suspend their surge pricing after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had warned against it during the odd- even phase.
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Despite stiff directives from the Karnataka Transport Department to immediately stop operations on Saturday, Ola and Uber are yet to send notices to their driver-partners to cease operations. “But many aggregator companies have not obtained licences but operating such cabs”.
Though Ola said it charges R.6 as base fare, majority of customers end up paying double or triple the fare which comes nearer the government fare but defeating the transparency factor in educating or cheating the customers.
The ban in question is the state government’s attempt to bring Ola and Uber under the new guidelines laid out for app-based taxi services.
According to section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, any person involved in running a cab service must obtain a legitimate license from appropriate authorities.
R. Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said the snap protest against action by Transport Department by cab drivers created a road block from airport towards the city for over 45 minutes.
The government’s latest initiative may significantly impact Ola and Uber’s business, given that Bangalore is one of the biggest markets for the ride hailing services, according to multiple industry executives. “Meanwhile, we are in talks with the RTO regarding the ongoing enforcement drive and are hopeful of a quick resolution”.
H.P. Kumar, secretary of the Karnataka State Vehicle Drivers’ Central Committee, said the innocent drivers were caught in the fight between the cab aggregators and the Transport Department. In Delhi, even 18 cabs were impounded for overcharging.
The Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rule lays down that aggregators can not charge passengers more than the fare fixed by the government. “Airlines and hotels are more expensive during busy times”.
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Pradeep N, state president of the association, said that the drivers would wait for a week for Ola and Uber and hoped they would abide by the April 2 regulations.
