Gujarat To Put Cap On Ola and Uber Vehicles At 20,000: Misbehaviour And Regulatory Violations To Cost Heavy

In a bid to cap the number of taxis under app-based aggregators, the Gujarat government plans to limit it to 20,000, reports The Economic Times.

The Posts and Transport Department of Gujarat said in a draft proposal, "The aggregator shall not attach more than 20,000 vehicles under one licence, and only one licence shall be issued to a company or an aggregator."

The proposal is in draft and the government will only take a call on it after evaluating suggestions and objections from stakeholders before finalising it. The move is supposed to come down heavily on app-based taxi services Ola and Uber. However, they said, they are working with the state government on the matter.

An Uber spokesperson said that they were committed to engaging with governments to ensure regulations helped enhance mobility in Gujarat's mega-cities. The local administration has also been involved to bring in smart mobility and cab-sharing solutions to help curb congestion and ensure seamless connectivity in Gujarat.

It has been reported that safety concerns, including attacks on passengers elsewhere in India, may have made the transport department come up with such a proposal.

Cabs run by aggregators account for 8,000-10,000, suggest reports. The proposal is to regulate this kind of service so that Ola and Uber would come under regulative control and make them adhere to licensed conditions and rules," the official said.

A draft “Gujarat State On-Demand Transportation Aggregator Rules, 2018” allows the department to cancel licences for operator non-compliance. The department could suspend the permit for 10 days to six months or even cancel them if they were caught violating any regulations or in case of passenger complaints.

With an upper limit set at 20,000 cabs per company, if taxi aggregators wish to operate more than 10,000 cabs in the state, they can get licences by paying a fee of Rs 10 lakh and a security deposit of Rs 25 lakh, according to the proposal.