Maharashtra Constitutes Panel To Set Ola, Uber In Order

The Maharashtra government has constituted a six-member panel to formulate draft norms for regulating the operations of online cab aggregator platforms in the state. 

As per an order issued by local authorities and seen by The Indian Express, the high-level committee will suggest recommendations and submit a report on the matter in the next three months. 

The panel will be headed by ex-IAS officer Sudhir Shrivastava and comprise other senior officials from the state’s traffic and transport departments.

The new norms may also include provisions to cap surge pricing and aspects such as strengthening consumer redressal systems and other safety measures.

“The new rules and guidelines may have clauses to put a cap on pricing like abnormal surge in fare, commuters redressal system and other safety measures such as installing a panic button. The recommendation will be made considering the ongoing issues and the Central government’s rules and guidelines,” an official was quoted as saying. 

The panel is expected to study the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court rulings on online cab aggregators to chalk up a skeletal model of the draft rules. Called ‘the Maharashtra Regulation of Aggregators Rules’, the yet-to-be-submitted report will cover all cab aggregators and drivers operating in the state under the local government’s oversight. 

The new guidelines will then enable the state government to prosecute erring platforms for non-compliance of rules. The official added that the new norms will likely be modelled after the Union government’s existing guidelines on the matter and will also include other provisions according to local requirements. 

This comes amid growing confrontation between the Maharashtra government and bike taxi platforms. Earlier this year, the state government banned all non-transport vehicles from offering ride pooling and aggregation. The decision was supposedly taken to ensure road safety of the general public and passengers at large.

Afterwards, Rapido mounted a legal challenge against the ban and sought revocation of the order. The case is currently pending before the Bombay High Court

Not just this, even the Karnataka government banned app-based auto services back in October while Delhi transport officials also barred all bike taxi services in the national capital earlier this year. 

While regulatory issues have compounded matters for these ride hailing startups, the space continues to be chugging along nicely. The entire spectrum of ride-hailing services, be it bikes, or autos or even cabs, is dominated by Ola and Uber, with Rapido emerging as a big player in the auto and bike taxi segments.

Overall, the Indian taxi hailing space continues to be a huge market and is projected to soar to INR 6,159 Cr by 2024.