APP-BASED CABS CAN’T HAVE FREE HAND: STATE

MUMBAI: In its affidavit in response to the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking regulation of services provided by appbased cab aggregators, the state government has informed the Bombay high court (HC) that Uber did not secure a license under the Motor Vehicles Act. Uber however said that the procedure for obtaining a license is not in place and other cab aggregators, too, are offering services sans license.

The affidavit filed before a bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Makarand Karnik stated that the new Maharashtra Regulation of Aggregator Rules, 2021 were pending approval but cab aggregators were still governed by Aggregator Guidelines, 2020, of the central government. “Even though the 2017 rules have been suspended, the aggregators do not have a free hand and are required to act in accordance with the 2020 guidelines, which are currently put in place by the central government,” the affidavit stated.

The affidavit was filed in response to a PIL by advocate Savina Crasto and said that grievances against the complex redressal mechanism provided by app-based cab aggregators were addressed by the state in the Maharashtra City Taxi Rules, a regulatory policy framed in 2017. However after the same was challenged in the high court, there was status quo and the rules were in abeyance since then. The affidavit added that though the state’s rules were pending, it did not mean that the cab aggregators could have a free hand and had to abide by Centre’s guidelines.

On its part, Uber India, through an affidavit, stated, “As of today, the state government has not published any rules in the official gazette under section 93 of the MV Act. There are no rules/guidelines in place in Maharashtra indicating the procedure for applying for license and there is no clarity on the conditions of grant of license.”