Uncertainty about Ola Uber services in Pune continues; decision deferred for 6th time

After their licence applications were rejected, Ola and Uber were given 30 days to appeal to the higher authorities. According to the central government’s Motor Vehicles Aggregators’ (MVA) guidelines, an aggregator aggrieved by any order passed by the competent authority may appeal to the state government or such other agency as notified by the state government within 30 days of receipt of the order.

On March 11, a meeting chaired by District Collector Suhas Diwase was held in the presence of other transport officials, after which the RTO issued a letter rejecting the applications of ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd (parent company of Ola) and Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd.

Transport authorities at the meeting concluded that the documents of both ride-hailing companies did not comply with the required norms of the MVA guidelines, 2020.

The RTA announced revised fares for taxis in January after agitations by driver unions and gig workers. The RTA increased the fares of AC taxis to Rs 37 for the first one and a half km and Rs 25 for every km thereafter. However, Ola and Uber have not implemented this change.

Several meetings have been held between driver unions and company representatives in the presence of transport officials, but no solution has been reached. Finally, the district collector took the step of rejecting the licence applications of these companies.