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Can’t ban app based cabs
Transport authorities who have been contemplating to enforce ban on app-based cab services have expressed their inability to do so saying that the app-based cab service companies do not come under the purview of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 or Information Technology Act, 2000.
Teethless Transport Dept expresses helplessness
Hyderabad: Transport authorities who have been contemplating to enforce ban on app-based cab services have expressed their inability to do so saying that the app-based cab service companies do not come under the purview of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 or Information Technology Act, 2000.
Authorities surmise that they have little power to enforce a blanket ban on the web-based taxi services apart from random checks of taxis plying on the roads. “Internet-based cab services act as mediator between customer and taxi drivers and earn commission with each transaction they do. They present themselves as technology service providers rather than taxi operators.
App-based taxi companies do not employ drivers directly nor do they have their own fleet of vehicles, which makes it difficult to impose a ban by seizing vehicles or preventing them from plying on the road,” transport officials say. Meanwhile, it is said Uber cabs which were banned in Delhi and Hyderabad have again applied for permission to ply the cabs.
Officials of the RTA told The Hans India that they were struggling to enforce a ban on taxi service firms because with the emergence of the so-called “Internet economy” necessitates a different way of thinking about the way which rules and law design their style of business.
The existing motor vehicles rules only give permits and licenses to individual or companies. At the most, if the authorities take a strict action on the web-based cabs, all it can do is terminate the permits or licenses. A bill, passed in the Lok Sabha following the Uber incident, sought to amend the MV Act and once this is done, specific rules for taxi aggregators can be developed.
On the other hand, taxi aggregators like Ola, Taxiforsure, Savaari, etc, who identify themselves as technology providers say that they do not need a permit to operate. The Internet-led cab service providers have been insisting before transport authorities in different states that they do not actually run taxi business, but only connect users/clients with the private cabs offering the services of their taxi-hailing application.
With cities like Kolkata and Bangalore decided over bringing the web-based taxi services under the IT laws with a set of restrictions catering to the security of cab users, the Telangana Transport department is planning to establish a centralized monitoring room for all hired transport taxis, auto-rickshaws and private buses in collaboration with the state police department.
An expert on cyber laws, when contacted, said that to control mobile apps, amendment would be required in the IT Act and IT Rules. "Since Internet is boundary-less and there is no law to control mobile apps in India, police cannot completely ban such services," he said.
By:Victor Rao
