Licence Raj is back! Karnataka targets Ola and Uber again

Ride-hailing services such as Ola and Uber Inc may have to stop their services in Karnataka, one of their largest markets, if the state transport department has its way said a report in the Mint. In a statement issued on Saturday, the state transport department said that the government has implemented the Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules 2016, which requires businesses to hold “effective licence issued to him under these rules”.

A statement issued by the commissioner of transport’s office on Saturday stated that taxi aggregators who are yet to obtain relevant licences should immediately stop operations, a move which could put a spanner on the operations of Ola and Uber, at least temporarily. 

“Web-based aggregators had to obtain licences to operate cabs and taxis. Many aggregator companies have not obtained these licences, but are still operating such cabs. This is a gross violation under sec-93 r/w 193 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Hence, companies which have not obtained licences from the concerned authority should stop operations with immediate effect otherwise strict action will be taken against such operators,” the statement said. The Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules 2016, which was notified in April, it says, “No person shall act or permit any other person to act as an aggregator unless he holds an effective licence issued to him under these rules”.

This comes on the heels of a surge pricing clamp down that state transport departments had imposed on Ola and Uber last month, these series of crackdowns are yet another example of state governments targeting legit business while still shirking from their own responsibility of providing better roads and public transport facilities to their citizens, so who is really the bad guy in this cab-aggregator versus government tussle?