The transport department has reported seizing several two-wheelers used for the unlicensed taxi services earlier this year. Transport authorities in Karnataka have served a notice on online cab aggregator Ola Cabs Ltd banning the service for six months in Bengaluru for violating licence conditions.
A report by a transport commissioner alleged that Ola violated license rules by starting an app based two-wheeler taxi service on a trial basis without a policy being established for licensing of such services. The licence of Ola in Karnataka issued by the transport department under the Karnataka on Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules 2016 and valid till 2021 was cancelled on the basis of the February 13, 2019, report of the transport commissioner.
The transport department has reported seizing several two-wheelers used for the unlicensed taxi services earlier this year. The department ordered the suspension of Ola cab services after the company did not reportedly provide satisfactory responses to notices issued for license violations.
Ola in a statement said that it was evaluating options for an amicable solution with authorities and that discussions were being held with the transport department of the state. “Despite other companies continuing to operate illegally, we halted our bike taxi experiment weeks ago,” Ola said, adding it had sought the state’s cooperation to develop a legal framework for a pilot.
(With inputs from Reuters)
