Govt. puts Uber and Ola in a legal fix

The Delhi Government on Tuesday put web app-based cab operators Uber and Ola in a catch-22 situation, which is expected to ruin their chances of legally resuming operations in the Capital.

According to a communication addressed to both operators on March 24, they must file affidavits declaring that they had complied with the provisions of a ban imposed upon them by the Central Government. These affidavits will process their recently filed applications for registration which, the government was not the case and it had proof of it.

Both cab services were found to have flouted the ban solely on the basis of fresh applications seeking registration through front companies. Now, have two almost suicidal choices before them, according to the Transport Department.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had imposed the ban on Uber post the rape of an MNC executive last year.

They must, an official said, either prove that they followed the provisions of the ban by suspending business between the date of the imposition of the ban and the date of their fresh applications for registration under the modified Radio Taxi Scheme of 2006, or invite a case of cheating for furnishing false information through a sworn affidavit.

“If they try to prove the former, we will seek the Central Government’s help in ascertaining that their web applications were, in fact, not only functional but still being used to fetch them customers on the basis of which their fresh applications are liable to get rejected,” said an official.

“On the other hand, if they try to wriggle out simply by filing the said affidavit stating that they complied with the ban, we will make them confront reports that prove that it is not the case; this would, by default, amount to a criminal offence under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code,” the official added.

While Uber had applied for a fresh licence under the name of Resource Expert India Limited on January 22 this year, Ola had followed suit two days later through an application requesting the grant of a fresh license for Apra Cabs India Pvt. Limited on January 24.