Hold Talks With Uber, Ola To Sort Auto Fare Issue: HC To Karnataka Govt

The Karnataka High Court’s Bengaluru Bench has directed the State of Karnataka and the state’s transport department to hold talks with Uber and Ola to solve the auto fare issue.

The order comes after Ola and Uber filed writ petitions with the Karnataka High Court on 12th and 13th October, respectively, appealing for a stay on the government’s 7th October order for a ban on auto-rickshaw services offered by them. Interestingly, Rapido, another auto aggregator, has yet to file a similar petition with the High Court.

A single-judge bench comprising Justice MGS Kamal ordered the state’s government and the transport department to hold talks with Ola and Uber regarding the auto fare issue.

“Steps would be taken to come to a consensus as regards the fare being charged by the petitioners are concerned, by calling for an emergent meeting not later than [the] afternoon of this day,” Justice Kamal said in his order on the writ petition filed by ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola.

This indicates that the state government held talks with Ola on the afternoon of the 12th, as prescribed by the court. The Karnataka High Court has linked Uber’s petition with that made by Ola and therefore it is safe to assume that the former has also held talks with the state government.

The case has been listed for hearing later today (October 14).

Karnataka Govt Yet To Enforce The Ban

It is prudent to note that while the Karnataka government has announced the ban, it is yet to enforce it. The state government, via the transport minister B Sriramulu, has issued several warnings to app-based auto operators. The Karnataka government also held a high-level meeting earlier this week to discuss the ways to enforce the ban.

The auto-rickshaw services are still being provided by Uber, Rapido and Ola, as checked by Inc42 at the time of publishing this article today (October 14). 

However, instead of charging the usual fare, all the auto aggregators are now matching the government-prescribed fare of INR 30 for the first two kilometres and INR 15 for each subsequent kilometre. 

Interestingly, overcharging was the primary reason cited by the state government in its 7th October notice notifying the ban on app-based autos. The government’s move came after receiving complaints from users about app-based autos charging as much as twice the government-prescribed fare, along with surge charges and service charges.

The Karnataka government had also pointed out that Ola, Uber and Rapido did not have the necessary licences to operate auto-rickshaws in the state. Incidentally, the state authorities have suggested auto aggregators apply for a licence rather than amending the cab aggregator licencing norms.