Centre to issue fresh norms for app-based taxi services

The Centre has decided to issue fresh set of guidelines to all the states for licensing and compliance related to app-based taxi service providers.

In a meeting between representatives of aggregate taxi service providers and officials of Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways here, the government has decided to issue fresh guidelines for app-based players such as Ola, Uber and TaxiForSure, said an official in the Ministry adding that new norms will be issued soon.

In the proposed guidelines, app-based taxi service providers have to register with state transport departments like all normal taxi operators and there would be no exception for those which claim to be aggregators.

IT-based taxi service providers can give discount to its customers but there should be cap for discount to avoid predatory pricing, a senior official in the ministry told Deccan Herald.

Besides, the ministry has also decided that state governments can make rules for capping taxi fare to prevent them increasing fares exorbitantly during peak hour. In the meeting, the government said aggregators should use local fuel i.e if it is in Delhi it should be CNG.

In order to ensure that enough details of drivers are available with the operators to check their credentials, the guidelines will also specify that the drivers need to submit police verification report, self-attested copies of their voter IDs, PAN card, local address and contact details of two family members. The government decision to issue fresh norms came following the public outcry over IT-based cab service providers move to adopt the dynamic pricing model under which fares rise when demand increases  to protect the commuter.