Court stay not lifted, Ola, Uber & Rapido to keep operating unlicensed

App-based ride-hailing firms Ola and Uber as well as bike taxi aggregator Rapido will continue to operate without a licence in Karnataka for the foreseeable future unless the state government manages to convince the high court to lift a stay on taking adverse action.

At a meeting chaired by Transport Minister B Sriramulu, the department conveyed to the association of taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers that it cannot take any coercive action against the ride-hailing firms for the moment.

While all the associations are united in their opposition to bike taxis, different stakeholders have different complaints about Ola and Uber. Drivers attached to Ola and Uber say they earn less than the per-kilometre fare fixed by the transport department. Drivers of conventional taxis (city taxis) accused the firms of "predatory pricing".

Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar confirmed to DH that the department wasn't taking action against the ride-hailing firms that have challenged the Karnataka On-Demand Transport Technology Aggregators' Rules, 2016, in the high court.

"The high court has directed us to hold meetings with the companies and resolve the issue. The companies have submitted applications for renewing the licence. We have held one round of meetings in this regard and hope to resolve the issue soon," he said.

'Why spare firms?'

Hamid Akbar Ali of the Airport Taxi Owners' Association said their demand had remained consistent. "It is unfortunate that the punishment for unlicensed operations is applicable only to individual drivers and not to corporate companies. What we are asking is a uniform fare and an end to the predatory pricing practised by Ola and Uber. The minister assured us that he will speak to the legal advisers and get the court stay vacated," he said.

Tanveer Pasha of the Ola, Taxi For Sure and Uber Owners and Drivers' Association said the minister promised to look into the possibility of building an alternative app to Ola and Uber. "We cited GoaMiles and the minister said he will see the possibility of incorporating such a model," he said. GoaMiles is Goa's licensed app-based taxi service.

However, Radhakrishna Holla of the Karnataka State Travel Owners' Association said the government’s failure to enforce the laws was the reason for illegal taxi operations.

In a representation to Sriramulu, he cited the rules of the department as well as specific guidelines by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways which are not followed by Rapido.

“We welcome them if they stick to the rules," he said.

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