Within 24 hours of Meru filing complaint against Ola and Uber, accusing them of abusing their market position, Maharashtra Govt. has filed an affidavit, wherein they have directly accused them of launching predatory pricing for gaining monopoly.
This is indeed a serious charge, that too coming straight from the State Govt.
Will Bombay High Court take action against Ola and Uber?
We will soon find out.
Maharashtra Govt.: Ola/Uber Wants Monopoly
Bombay High Court is right now hearing several petitions against City Taxi Rules, 2017, which was introduced last year in order to regularize online cab hailing services.
While responding to the petitions, Maharashtra Govt. has said that Ola and Uber are deliberately introducing predatory pricing, so that they can have a monopoly over city based taxi services.
In fact, Maharashtra Govt. in their affidavit has said that both Ola and Uber wants to kill competition, especially kaali-peeli taxis in the state.
Maharashtra Govt. said, “The petitioners (Ola, Uber) have predatory tactics, they aspire for a monopoly in the market and want to wipe out competition including the common men who drive the black-and-yellow taxis,”, adding, “Such tactics cannot be permitted by a welfare state like Maharashtra.”
Besides, the affidavit also stated that both Ola and Uber are finalizing prices based on their own methodologies, and there is no regulation or checks to ensure that they are implementing fair prices.
Govt. strongly emphasized on regulating their services, as they said: “Their apps that fix routes, decide fares, are neither regulated, nor subject to any scrutiny,” the affidavit states highlighting a pertinent need to regulate app-based taxi operators.”
The case was filed after Maharashtra Govt., despite creating license system for such cabs, refused to grant licenses, citing one excuse or the other.
In short, Maharashtra Govt. is trying to protect traditional kaali-peeli taxis, and Uber and Ola are fighting this in the Court.
A lot more fireworks are expected, as the case progresses.
Meru Files Complaint Against Ola/Uber
Meru, which is an Indian taxi company, had earlier filed several complaints against Ola and Uber, stating anti-competition stand by them, across India.
As per the complaint, SoftBank is the common investor in both these companies, and together, they are trying to create a monopoly.
Meru’s chief executive officer (CEO) Nilesh Sangoi said: “Even before there is any merger or alliance between the two through global investors, there is already a unified monopoly,”
These allegations are strikingly similar to what Maharashtra Govt. has filed in their affidavit.
Meru’s earlier anti-trust case against Ola and Uber was quashed by Competition Commission of India (CCI) in Bengaluru, as they couldn’t prove the case.
We will keep you updated as we receive more news.