Last week, Delhi Govt. rejected license applications of Uber, Ola and Taxi For Sure; and effectively banned them from plying within Delhi-NCR region. Their operations were banned earlier as well, but considering that they had applied for radio license, and the case was sub judice, they continued with bookings.
But after last week’s judgement, Uber, Ola and TFS were completely out of radar in the National Capital.
However, it seems that these three taxi aggregators are victim of vendetta by Delhi Government.
After Ola and TFS filed a petition opposing this move, A Delhi Court has observed that the decision to reject their licenses is invalid; and stated that the State Government will have to grant them a fresh hearing.
Justice S Muralidhar, while passing his judgment, said to Delhi Govt., “No one is stopping you from taking a fresh decision,”
The petition was filed by Ola and TFS after Delhi Traffic cops started impounding their cabs. As per insider reports, last week after Delhi Govt. rejected their licenses, traffic cops started booking Ola and Uber cabs (after downloading their apps), and once the vehicle arrived at their doorstep, they impounded them. During this ‘covert’ operation, more than 500 cabs were seized and challaned.
After this recent Court Order for a fresh hearing, there is some hope for Ola, TFS and Uber to re-enter the market and start their services legally.
But Delhi Govt. Will Not Relent Easily
However, as per reports coming in from various sources, it doesn’t seem that Delhi Govt. is reluctant to allow these taxi aggregators to continue service.
After the court order for fresh hearing, a senior Delhi Govt. official has said that they will grant a new hearing, but immediately issue them a show cause notice as well. This means that the fresh hearing would only be a formality; Delhi Govt. has pre-decided that they will not allow them to operate.
Interestingly, their license application was rejected only because they had failed to submit an affidavit stating that they are still running in the Delhi-NCR region. Law makers have stated that this is a weak and desperate attempt to block a business.
In March this year, Delhi Govt. had asked IT Ministry to block their apps, as they continued to accept bookings from their customers. However, IT Ministry failed to respond to their request as the technicalities involved in blocking a mobile app, based on the region is complex.
It is very interesting to observe that despite fulfilling all the requirements which are mandatory for a radio taxi operator, Uber, Ola and TFS are still facing hurdles from the Delhi Govt as their applications are being rejected on flimsy grounds.
We hope that the rules regarding the safety and security of all passengers are strongly implemented, but we also hope that no business is stopped from operating, only because of a vendetta.
We will keep you updated as more information comes in.
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