Karnataka’s state transport commissioner has said that ride-sharing services offered by cab aggregators like Ola and Uber are illegal. According to rules, these companies have contract carriage permits that do not allow them to pick up and drop passengers during the course of a ride. “Ride-sharing is not possible because they have contract carriage permit, which is for point-to-point drops and not picking up customers in between,” MK Aiyappa, state transport commissioner, told Mint.
Aiyappa added that only Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corp has stage carriage permits that allow them to pick-up and drop passengers along the route. However, the transport commissioner said action would not be taken against those who broke the rule in the next four days. “A meeting has been scheduled on Monday, where we will listen to the representatives of cab aggregators,” he told The Economic Times.
This is not the first time that the state transport department has opposed ride-sharing services. In December 2015, it had asked shuttle service provider ZipGo to shut down its operations in Bengaluru.
The transport commissioner’s decision comes as Ola and Uber drivers have been protesting against the hiked commissions that they have to pay to the aggregators. According to them, the commission per ride was increased from 10% to 30%.
Earlier, the Karnataka government had said bike taxis services launched by Ola and Uber were illegal and forced the companies to withdraw the services.
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