Premier app-based taxi services Ola and Uber are reportedly plying illegally in the national Capital as their licence applications had been rejected by the AAP Government’s Transport Department.
In its status report to the Delhi High Court, the Delhi Government has said that the Delhi Transport Department has already framed the ‘City Taxi Scheme, 2015’ whereby the aggregator is also allowed to seek a licence and it can run its business in the national Capital. But these app-based unlicensed operators have allegedly not applied under the said scheme so far.
As per the scheme, the licensee can charge fares as prescribed by the transport department from time to time, and as such, there is no provision under the scheme for charging any kind of peak time charge or surge prices.
The Government said the two app-based taxi companies were unlicensed and they were not allowed to charge more than the prescribed rates in the shape of ‘surge price’ or ‘peak time charge’ and punitive action was being taken against violators by the enforcement department and Delhi Traffic Police teams.
The Government’s response in court came on a plea filed by Magic Sewa Pvt ltd which has alleged that certain unlicensed taxi aggregators “have been disdainfully violating” its notification on fares by charging very low amounts like Rs5 per km or as high as
The Government, had on April 18, faced the ire of the HC which had said they cannot “wash their hands off” the issue of overcharging by operators like Uber and Ola, as the “general public was suffering” due to it.
The Transport Department has already issued a helpline number aimed at bringing overcharging taxi drivers to book, warning of legal consequences, including cancellation of permits and impounding of vehicles.
Any complaint related to overcharging could be made on the helpline number 011-42400400, along with a copy of the bill and taxi number.
The Government said 119 challans have been issued by various wings of the transport department so far against the taxi operators and most of these were attached with the two unlicensed aggregators. At present, the fares chargeable by city taxis are decided by the Government under Section 67 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
The city administration is also in the process of preparing rules to regulate the application-based aggregators and to prevent uneconomical competition among permit holders.
The Government told the HC that the app-based unlicensed taxi service operators were abusing the process of law and were deliberately delaying the process of seeking licences as the saame would make them liable to follow the rules and regulations formulated as per the ‘City Taxi Scheme, 2015’ and they were also not willing to abide by the same.
The Government said that it was committed to its zero-tolerance policy as far as exploitation of citizens of the city was concerned.