Clear picture on Ola services in Karnataka may emerge today

BENGALURU: The services of Ola Cabs will be suspended in the city from Tuesday onwards if the company fails to pay the fine imposed on it by the transport department on Monday, Karnataka Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar told TNIE.

He said Ola management met him on Saturday and also got in touch with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy regarding the issue. The CM then spoke to Transport Minister D C Thammanna and a decision was taken to impose a fine on Ola for the violation of rules in running a bike taxi service without authorised permission. The suspension will be revoked only after the payment of fine.

Bhaskar said Ola management is scheduled to meet Transport Commissioner V P Ikkeri on Monday morning, where he will decide the amount of fine. “If they don’t pay the fine, the suspension order stands from Tuesday onwards for six months. Till then (Monday) Ola cab service will not be affected,” he said.
On Sunday, a tweet by Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge, “@Olacabs will run their business as usual from today,” caused confusion among commuters who thought that action against the cab service has been rescinded. Kharge told Express that people had misunderstood his tweet and he had not meant that the suspension of Ola’s licence was revoked.

Kharge told The New Indian Express, “My tweet is very clear that Ola will be allowed to ply their cabs on Saturday and Sunday. The decision on revoking suspension will be taken on Monday after the management pays the fine to be imposed by the transport commissioner. As I was IT/BT minister earlier and had closely dealt with the corporates, I tweeted saying ‘@Olacabs will run their business as usual from today. However, there is an urgent need for policies to catch-up with new technologies & also industries too should work closer with Govt to help evolve policies for innovations’.”

He added that while technologies have evolved, suspension cannot be the only solution. “Private companies, innovators, corporates have to work closely with the government so that they can help us understand their needs and we can form policies. Just because we don’t have a policy, that doesn’t mean the business is illegal. What Ola did was wrong with respect to its bike taxi policy. It was even banned in the US. When 75,000 people depend on Ola daily and lakhs of commuters are using its services, suspension is not the only solution. At the same time, it does not mean that government is sleeping over whatever they do,” Kharge said.

“I have spoken to the chief secretary and he has said Ola will be fined for the violation and only then the suspension will be revoked,” Kharge added.Thammanna also told the media on Sunday that the government has decided to revoke the ban, and that he has given instructions to STA to take necessary steps on Monday.The State Transport Authority (STA) had suspended the licence for six months in its order on March 18.When TNIE contacted Ola, its spokesperson said, “Nothing for now, if anything comes, we will share it with you.”

DRIVERS SEEK ACTION AGAINST OLA

Ola drivers’ association is planning to urge the transport commissioner not to revoke the suspension of Ola’s licence. The association has threatened that if the transport officials don’t listen to their demands, they will stage a protest. One of their major grievances against the company is non-payment of fare made using ‘Ola Money’.