Ola, Uber served legal notices over tripmeters

The Government issued an order fixing the meter fare at `17 per kilometre in the day and `20 at night, but the order never saw the light of the day.

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The Forum Against Corruption (FAC) has served legal notices on ride-hailing companies Ola and Uber for not using tripmeters as prescribed by the Ministry of Road Transport, the State Transport Commissioner and the Legal Metrology Controller.

The Ministry of Road Transport issued orders in 2016 and asked the service providers, like Ola and Uber, to start using taxi meters rather than the GPS.

However, the guidelines were never implemented.

It was learnt that the meter culture was prevalent till four years ago, however, but it was completely replaced by the GPS-based pricing alone.

This gives the company an edge to change the fares depending on the demand.

Ms Utlawar Prathiba, a private company employee from Begumpet, said, “Ola and Uber vehicles, be it cabs or autorickshaws, charge differently in different timings for the same distance. The companies are cashing in on the urgency of the people. In the morning hours, the fares are usually low, and in the evening the fares would be skyrocketing.”

The Government also issued an order fixing the meter fare at `17 per kilometre in the day and `20 at night.

However the Government Order MS. No. 78 has not seen the light of the day since its release two years ago.

The founder of Forum Against Corruption, Mr Vijay Gopal, said “There are many violations that are happening, where both drivers and passengers are the victims. When the law says meters are a must and when the law says only restricted period of work hours, then they should be followed. Governments are purposely not implementing the laws to appease their own lobbies.”