The Delhi High Court will pass interim orders on Wednesday on the operations of app-based taxi services in the Capital, while examining how ANI Technologies Private Limited was running Ola Cabs in the city despite the ban imposed by the Delhi Government’s Transport Department on January 1 this year.
Justice Manmohan of the High Court, hearing a writ petition moved by ANI Technologies after the applications of its subsidiaries for licence under the amended radio taxi scheme were rejected, said on Tuesday that the court may also put in place a temporary mechanism for running the cab services.
The Court said the matter required a detailed hearing as the rules of the policy did not seem to be in tune with the ground level realities. Delhi Government had on January 1 banned the operation of app-based cabs until they complied with amended guidelines of the radio taxi scheme of 2006.
Ola has contended in its petition that it was not amenable to the modified radio taxi scheme, as its cabs have obtained All India Tourist Permits, and it does not need to apply for licences to operate in Delhi. It also said that switching to CNG was not a mandatory requirement.
The court observed during arguments that Ola taxis were operating on diesel, which was not a clean fuel. It also made some strong remarks about the company’s stand vis-à-vis the January 1 ban orders.
The Delhi Government’s counsel said Ola had not applied under the radio taxi scheme, while its subsidiaries had applied for licence. The court had earlier said it was inclined to allow only CNG-based cabs to provide point-to-point service in the Capital.
