Radio Taxi Community Seeks Ban On Ola And Uber

The Bombay High Court, on Wednesday, asked the Maharashtra government to explain that how are the Uber and Ola taxis in Mumbai only operating on tourist permit. There were cases in which the court was hearing a plea filed by the association of radio taxis which includes Meru, Mega and Tab Cabs. 

The petitioners stated that the Ola and Uber hardly hold a tourist permit that is not enough to drive their taxis through websites or mobile apps, under the Motor Vehicle Act. Such permits are only meant "to promote tourism or transportation of tourists to places of tourist interest'' the complaint also stated.

The High Court bench, headed by Justice SC Dharmadhikari, went against the state government who failed to ready an affidavit in the case despite the petition first coming up three weeks ago. The radio taxi community is keeping its ground strong against the bigger players, while Uber and Ola have stated that they are not breaking any rules and going against the Motor Vehicle Act. The matter has now been postponed and the next hearing will be on September 2.

Justice Dharmadhikari also stated that “These cabs do not halt at taxi stands, there is no permission, they don’t comply with your rules. You (government) need to explain all this. There is no system in place to keep a check on these cab services. When has all this started? You have only increased the number of cars on the road leading to chaos".