Gujarat govt may put limit to Ola and Uber's fleet to 20,000

To control overburden of cabs that causes traffic menace and affect pocket of local taxi owners, Gujarat government is taking up the matter in concern to restrict the number of app-based cab aggregators in the state.

This is the first move by any state government in India, where it may put a cap to maximum 20,000 fleets for Ola and Uber each.

According to the draft issued by the Posts and Transport Department of Gujarat, these cab aggregators can’t operate more than the aforementioned number of vehicles under one licence and only one licence shall be issued to such aggregators.

The bold move by government comes after safety issue including attacks on passengers in several cities of India. The government is seeking to regulate the cab aggregator through the draft Gujarat State on Demand Transportation Aggregator Rules, 2018.

On the lines of New York City, where Uber and Lyft cabs faced similar restriction, the government draft rule also allows the department to suspend or even cancel licences if operators fail to comply with rules.

Further, the proposal also outlined that, those seeking to operate more than 10,000 cabs, with the upper limit at 20,000 can get licence only by paying a fee of Rs 10 lakh and security deposit of Rs 25 lakh, reports ET.

According to Industry sources number of Ola, Uber cabs are expected around 8,000-10,000, in the top four cities of the state. It indicates a rapid spike in the number of app-based taxis in the state.

While Ola, Uber already have been facing a slowdown in their rides in 2018, the fresh regulation will indeed affect their growth chart in the state. However, the government will evaluate suggestions and objections from stakeholders before finalising it.

Recently, the state government had informed the Gujarat High Court that it has drafted a rule to regulate these cab-hailing companies. During a hearing on PIL, a division bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice A Y Kogje said that such rules are necessary to avoid “every crossroad from becoming a pickup stand”