Male Passengers On Ola, Uber Banned From Sharing Rides With Females! Only Females Can Pool With Females Now

As per the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways latest notification, female passengers seeking the ride pooling service on Ola and Uber will be provided the option but to pool, caveat, only with other lady commuters.

Riders who shall be travelling along the same route with varied stoppages will be provided pooling services by travel aggregators under a virtual contract through the app. As per the guidelines, this will be provided to riders whose details and KYC are available.

According to “Female passengers seeking to avail ride pooling shall also be provided the option to pool only with other female passengers”.

Also the ministry has issued new guidelines which aims to put a cap on what the travel aggregators like Ola & Uber can charge. The guidelines allow the aggregator to charge a fare 50 % lower than base fare as well as the maximum surge pricing of 1.5 times the base fare.

According to the ministry, this move will substantiate the dynamic pricing principle which is relevant for asset utilisation and it is the asset utilization which is the fundamental concept of transport aggregation.

Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines:-

The ministry has issued the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020 in pursuance of the provision under Section 93 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

These will act as a guiding light for state and union territories’ governments for regulating business conducted by these aggregators.

The city taxi fare indexed by the WPI for the current year shall be the base fare chargeable to customers availing aggregator service.

The base minimum fare chargeable to customers availing aggregator services shall be, for a minimum of 3 km, to compensate for dead mileage and distance travelled and fuel utilised for picking up the customers.

The driver of the vehicle shall get 80% of the fare whereas the aggregator gets the remaining. The state government may by way of a notification direct 2 per cent over and above the fare towards the state exchequer for amenities and programmes related for aggregator operated vehicles, which have been helpful in reducing traffic congestion to a great extent and subsequently reducing pollution.

Guidelines for Cab Providers

On cancellation of a booking by a driver, subsequent to accepting a ride on the app, a penalty of 10 percent of the total fare not exceeding Rs 100 shall be imposed, when such cancellation is made without valid reasons stipulated by the aggregator on its website and on the app. On cancellation of a booking by a rider, subsequent to booking a ride on the app, a penalty of 10 percent of the total fare not exceeding Rs 100 shall be imposed. The said amount shall be divided between the driver and aggregator in the same proportion.

The aggregator will ensure health insurance for each driver integrated with the aggregator for an amount not less than Rs 5 lakh with base year 2020-21 and increased by 5 percent each year.

It will also ensure a term insurance for each driver integrated with the aggregator for an amount not less than Rs 10 lakh with base year 2020-21 and increase by 5 per cent each Year.

The aggregator will ensure that the driver shall not be logged in for an aggregate of 12 hours on a calendar day. A mandatory break of 10 hours for the driver shall be imposed subsequent to a login extending 12 hours.