Licences of Ola, Uber, two others in the balance; state govt’s advice sought on further course of action
Apart from Ola and Uber, Cab-age Infra Tech Private Limited and Media Miles Private Limited were also found flouting rules. Representation pic
Four app-based taxi aggregators in Maharashtra, including Ola and Uber, have failed to comply with some provisions of the central government’s Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, after which the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) decided to take guidance from the state government on issuance of licences to them, an official said on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
In February 2023, the Supreme Court had directed app-based taxi aggregators to apply for a licence within the March 6 deadline in order to ply their trade in Maharashtra. Thereafter, Uber India System Limited and ANI Technologies Limited, which operate Uber and Ola app-based services, respectively, had applied for cab aggregator licence at Tardeo RTO in south Mumbai in the beginning of March, he said.
At the end of that month, the MMRTA had granted them temporary licence on the condition that they would need to comply with the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, the official added. Apart from these two leading aggregators, two other companies, namely Cab-age Infra Tech Private Limited and Media Miles Private Limited, had applied for aggregator licence at Wadala RTO in the central part of the metropolis and neighbouring Thane RTO office, respectively, he added.
As per RTO officials, on receiving applications for aggregator licence, teams were deputed to check if these firms were complying with the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 but none of the four applicants were found to be fulfilling them. “Hence, the compliance reports were kept before MMRTA for further direction. After discussions, the transport authority chaired by the transport secretary of Maharashtra directed that the state government’s guidance be sought on the issue,” the official said.
MMRTA has directed that all applications be sent to the state government for guidance, a senior RTO official said. “The companies are not complying with the guidelines pertaining to payment of security deposit, installation of simulators for driver training, driver medical check-up, and certificates of drivers, among others,” he informed. The Maharashtra government appointed a committee under the chairmanship of retired additional chief secretary Sudhir Kumar Shrivastava in April this year to draft the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Aggregator Rules. The committee, which has sought the inputs from all stakeholders including the general public, has so far held three meetings in Navi Mumbai, officials said.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
