The Association of Radio Taxis claimed on Tuesday that it had warned the government about the risks of Uber’s model of working in the past, but the authorities did not pay heed.
It expressed concern over application-based cab services like Uber, Ola and Taxi For Sure, that follow an aggregation model and operate without seeking a licence from the transport authorities. They urged the government to come out with stringent regulations on these cab services.
Association president Kunal Lalani said: “In the past months, companies like Uber, Ola and Taxi For Sure have started operating without seeking any licence from the transport authorities, by presenting themselves as technology companies and following an aggregation model. They place only a mobile application in the car for GPS navigation, violating all the rules and requirements of the radio taxi scheme under the Motor Vehicles Act.”
The association, representing all licensed radio taxi operators across India, including Mega Cabs, Easy Cabs, Meru Cabs, Gcabs (Gurgaon), Chanson Cabs, Yo-Cabs, Sky Cab (Hyderabad), RBTS (Chandigarh), Fab Cab (Chandigarh), and Star Cab (Indore), on Tuesday addressed a press conference to clarify that they abide by all the rules laid down by the government.
The association confirmed that all its members follow the rules and guidelines issued by the State Transport Departments in all major cities, covering verification of the drivers, GPRS tracking of all taxis, and training of driver training for servicing various customer profiles.
It also spoke about improving safety of women passengers who take cabs late at night.
