HC wants Karnataka govt, ride-hailing firms to arrive at common ground

The High Court of Karnataka has suggested that the State government and autorickshaw-hiring aggregators to arrive at a common ground.

The court was hearing petitions by Uber India Systems Private Limited and ANI Technologies Private Limited following the directions of the State to aggregators to stop their operations. The aggregators had also been warned that they would be fined for every autorickshaw found plying on the online demand platforms.

The government had issued the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregator (KODTTA) rules in 2016. Based on them, the online aggregator companies like Ola, Uber and Rapido obtained permission to launch online cab hiring facilities through mobile apps.

On October 6 this year, the authorities after a meeting issued an order stating that autorickshaw cab service available under the online apps violated the rules and licence. It was held that taxi service was only for cars and not autorickshaws. The petition by the aggregator Uber states: “Without any basis, the impugned notice further states that the petitioner is charging higher rates of fare than the fares fixed as per the notification issued by the State from time to time.”

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The single judge Bench which heard the arguments of the aggregators today adjourned the hearing. The Bench noted that the services rendered by the online aggregators were useful for the customers but there were also concerns about the additional fares charged and penalty for cancelling bookings. It suggested that the authorities and the aggregators find a common ground on the issue.

The advocate for the aggregators argued that there were no additional charges imposed for the service and aggregators only shared commission from the rickshaw owners. It was also claimed that when the licences were issued under the KODTTA rules, it was not mentioned that autorickshaws were kept out of its purview.

The Advocate General, representing the State, said the App-based aggregators were charging more than the rates fixed by the authorities in the name of surcharge. They had not obtained licence for aggregating auto rickshaws and therefore their services have been stopped. The court was told that a meeting would be held today. The court said it would again hear the case on Friday.