n a setback to the app-based cab service providers in the Capital, including Ola Cabs, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with a recent order of a Single Judge Bench, which had upheld the ban imposed by the Delhi Government’s Transport Department on their operations till they complied with the amended guidelines of the radio taxi scheme of 2006.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath dismissed the appeal of ANI Technologies Private Limited, which runs Ola cabs in the city, against the order. The Court said that Ola’s contention that non-CNG commercial vehicles were not barred from plying in the Capital was “factually incorrect”.
In its 11-page judgment, the Court said the July 29 order of the Single Judge Bench directing the Delhi Government and traffic police to enforce the January 1, 2015 ban order vis-à-vis the All India Tourist Permit (AITP) taxis operating on diesel on point-to-point basis in Delhi was “unexceptionable”.
The Court referred to the Supreme Court’s orders in the celebrated MC Mehta case while affirming that the apex court had held that no commercial vehicles would ply in the Capital unless converted to single fuel mode of CNG with effect from April 1, 2001. “The reliance of the senior counsel for the appellant on the order dated September 24, 1999 to substantiate his contention that the requirement is only to the effect that the diesel driven taxis shall confer to EURO II norm appears to be misplaced,” said the Court.
The Court noted that the stand taken by ANI Technologies that it was not a taxi operator, but it only performed the role of an aggregator for taxi operators and the assertion that its business worked on an aggregation model was considered and rejected by the Delhi Government’s Transport Commissioner.
The Court also said the question whether the business activity of the petitioner fell within the purview of radio taxi scheme and whether the petitioner was governed by the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, was a larger issue, which required consideration in the writ petition.
ANI Technologies had contended in its petition that it was not amenable to the modified radio taxi scheme, as its cabs had obtained AITP, and it did not need to apply for licences to operate in Delhi. It also said that switching to CNG as a fuel was not a mandatory requirement.
In its reaction to the High Court’s decision, ANI Technologies said it respects the Division Bench order on commercial diesel vehicles on all aggregator platforms in Delhi as well as on those plying independently.
“We are working closely with the authorities to help and support the thousands of driver entrepreneurs and lakhs of citizens in the State, who use Ola app,” said ANI Technologies in a statement.
The senior counsel’s contention that the requirement is only to the effect that the diesel driven taxis shall confer to EURO II norm appears to be misplaced
