Online taxi-hailing firm Ola has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court accusing rival Uber of violating Indian laws as the two firms battle for control of the country’s estimated $12 billion ride-sharing market.
In its legal submission, ANI Technologies Limited, which operates Ola, has alleged that Uber is a foreign company that is running its operation in the country for profit without due regard for laws. Ola made its submission in connection with a petition filed by Uber India challenging the Karnataka government’s latest regulations covering app-based taxi services. The court heard Ola’s plea and posted the case for arguments on July 4.
The U.S.-based company approached the Karnataka High Court seeking certain amendments in the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules, 2016. Uber is seeking the deletion of specific clauses in the rules which make it mandatory for aggregators to display taxi boards on the cabs, install digital fare meters and printers and end surge pricing. The norms also seek to regulate agreements with individual taxi permit holders.
Indigenous start-upOla, in its petition, said that it was an indigenous start-up. Earlier, the State Transport Department had accepted Ola’s application under the new guidelines and rules and also granted it licence to operate 100 taxis in the State.
Ola also alleged that Uber had been offering private vehicles without contract carriage permit to users on its platform under the guise of car-pooling. It alleged that Uber was running motorcycle-taxi operations by offering private motorcycles, which was illegal.
Uber in a blog post said that Ola was making baseless allegations to confound and complicate matters. A post written by Bhavik Rathod, General Manager, Bangalore unit, said, “Uber has the deepest respect for the laws of India.”
“What makes Uber ‘foreign’? The fact that we are established in San Francisco but have a hyperlocal team solving problems that are locally relevant? Or that, just like our competitors, we received most of our funding from ‘foreign’ investors?”
SoftBank GroupOla is backed by investments from global investors like Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners, and SoftBank Group, among others.
“As required, Uber has submitted details for 100 cars to obtain the license under the current regulations,” Mr. Rathod wrote. “But for reasons unknown to us, we’re yet to be granted the license and have instead been asked to undergo the same process all over again with another local authority.”
