State govt rejects licence applications of Uber, Ola Cabs and Taxi4Sure

The Delhi government on Wednesday rejected Uber’s fresh application for registration under the Modified Radio Taxi Scheme,  2006.

Similar applications from web-based taxi operators, Ola Cabs and Taxi4Sure, were also rejected.

Uber, which has been banned since December 2014 in Delhi, when one of its drivers was accused of raping a passenger, had applied for radio taxi licence on January 22 through its subsidiary Resource Expert India Pvt Ltd.

“As your company is subsidiary/associate of M/s Uber Cabs, your application has been rejected by the competent authority, since you have filed to submit the sworn affidavit declaring therein the company named M/s Uber Cabs is complying with the ban order imposed upon it in letter and spirit,” the Delhi Transport Department said in a letter on Wednesday.

Sources in the Transport Department said the applications from all the two prominent companies in question were rejected because they also failed to declare that they were complying with the conditions of a Home Ministry-imposed ban on their services last year.

In a move to bring apps such as Uber under the fold of law, the city government onJanuary 1 had laid down ground rules for them. For over a year, these companies were operating outside the licence regime brought in for radio taxi services in 2006.

Officials said the new modifications in the law was an attempt to fix the loopholes in cab operations that emerged following the outrage over rape of the woman on December 5 last inside the Uber car.

Earlier in February, the government had issued ‘deficiency memos’ asking the licence seekers to furnish all the details before it as mentioned in the recently modified rules.

The app-based firms are not allowed to operate without the regulatory clearances, according to the Transport Department.

Recently, in an another incident of outrage, a 21-year-old woman was molested on Uber cab over the weekend in Gurgaon.

Meanwhile, Delhi Traffic Police have prosecuted several app-based taxi services in the past 24 hours under the existing ban.

“We challaned 158 taxis and impounded 120 of them,” said Muktesh Chander, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

Police have also asked Delhi Transport Department to initiate action under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code against company executives for not obeying the government directions.

All traffic inspectors have been asked to download apps, book taxis and challan them on arrival. “The offending vehicle will be impounded,” Chander added. A letter will be written to Delhi Transport Department to cancel the permit of the vehicle.