Consumers taken for a ride as govt fails again on Uber and Ola licence issue

Instead of resolving the issue quickly the authorities are dragging the issue for the last six months

GN Bureau | June 4, 2015


#radio cabs   #app-based cab services   #uber   #ola   #taxi for sure   #transport   #delhi  

All app-based cab services were banned in the national capital after a driver of Uber, the US-based online cab service provider, was accused of raping a 27-year-old financial consultant woman passenger in December last year. Since then the issue of app-based taxi services remains unresolved with the Delhi government on Wednesday rejecting fresh applications for licence by Uber and two other such service providers - Ola and TaxiForSure.

Such delay and inaction affects consumers and raises questions of effective governance in Delhi. The centre and the Delhi government have been fighting over division of power and have even gone to court over the issue. However, the transport woes compounded by the ban of taxi services remains unresolved. 

The applications of the three taxi aggregators were rejected for not filing undertakings stating they were complying with a ban imposed on them. The three operators had filed the applications under the modified Radio Taxi Scheme introduced five months ago.

On May 28, Uber and Ola cabs were asked to provide details like number of vehicles and addresses of their drivers to ensure regularisation of their services but the two operators have complied with the order.

Uber said it will file a fresh application. "While the rejection of our application for a licence under the amended Radio Taxi scheme is unfortunate, we look forward to file a fresh application under a new set of guidelines that are due to be issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act," Uber Delhi GM Gagan Bhatia said in a statement.

The Delhi government in March had approached the Centre to block Web-based apps of Uber, Ola Cabs, and TaxiForSure alleging that these companies were not complying with its ban order imposed on them.

Transport Minister Gopal Rai had earlier made it clear that cab companies would have to stop plying before their applications could be considered for fresh permits. But, why should the service stopped? Is there no middle path that allows operation of taxi services and comply with the government rules?

Delhi government had in December last year modified the Radio Taxi Scheme 2006, making specific guidelines for their operation, which include mandatory installation of GPS devices, a panic button and providing of full database of their drivers to city police.

According to new rules approved by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, radio taxi provider will have to either maintain a call centre or operate through an authorised call center or web portal and they will have to provide such details to the transport department.

Comments

 

Other News

How health camps offer great learning opportunity for medical students

“They also serve who only stand and wait.” This phrase of poet John Milton sums up the essence of quiet service, those individuals, without any titles or acknowledgement, contributing to society. For medical students, serving in public health camps is just such a quiet and transformati

Is BharatNet digging too deep?

India’s ambition to become a digitally empowered society rests on the premise that every citizen, regardless of geography, should have access to reliable and affordable internet. At the heart of this mission is BharatNet, a flagship programme launched by the government of India to provide high-speed

WAVES Summit: A Global Media Powerhouse

In 2019, at the inauguration of National Museum of Indian Cinema, prime minister Narendra Modi had expressed his wish to have a forum of global repute similar to the World Economic Forum, Davos, for India’s media and entertainment (M&E) industry. That wish became reality with the WAVES Summit in

India’s silent lead crisis

Flint, Michigan, was a wake-up call. Lead contamination in water supplied to homes in that American city led to a catastrophic public health emergency in 2014, which is yet to be fully resolved. But India’s lead poisoning crisis is ten times worse- larger, quieter, and far most devastating. Nearly ha

‘Dial 100’: A tribute to the police force and its unsung heroes

Dial 100  By Kulpreet Yadav HarperCollins, 232 pages, Rs 299  A wife conspires with her ex-lover to mur

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter