The State government on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that it will decide the fares for app-based taxi services in the winter session of the Assembly.
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A Division Bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a bunch of petitions. One of them, filed by the Association of Radio Taxis, says that companies like Uber, Ola, Meru and Tabcab are plying on city roads with tourist permits, and sought directions from the court to stop their operations in the State.
The petition says taxi drivers must have public service vehicle badges issued by the State Transport Authority after verifying the antecedents of the driver. All taxis are required to be fitted with a functioning electronic meter, and can only charge the fare fixed by the Roads and Transport Authority. The petition says app-based services violate the Motor Vehicles Act.
Additional government pleader G.W. Mattos told the court that the government has received the report prepared by the fare fixation committee, and will decide the fare structure based on it during the Nagpur Assembly session.
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The court adjourned the matter for eight weeks; drivers of Ola, Uber and other such companies will not face action till then.
In the last hearing, the court had asked the State to allow fair competition, saying that the Maharashtra City Taxi Rules discriminate between black-and-yellow taxis and app-based services.