Is MP Govt going to kill Ola and Uber?

Changes proposed by MP Transport Department may throw application based taxi aggregators out of service

NK SINGH

Madhya Pradesh Government wants to control and regulate application based taxi aggregator services like Ola and Uber. The Principal Secretary of Transport Department has published a gazette notification inviting objections from public about proposed amendment to Motor Vehicles Act by November 13. The new rules are being framed under the garb of helping consumers.

No doubt, the aggregators suffer from lacunas like surge pricing and lack of a sturdy grievance redressal mechanism. But the real objective behind the new rules seems to garner more revenue for the cash-strapped government. Worse, the proposed changes may kill the technology-based nascent service, which has come as a boon for urban transport system. The proposed amendments may also push up the cost of operation, ultimately affecting the public. It must be kept in mind that these aggregator services are independent private enterprises on which the State exchequer does not have to spend a single pie.

Services like Ola and Uber have proved a watershed in urban transportation. The history of cab services in small towns like Bhopal and Indore can be divided in two parts ---- before Ola/ Uber and after Ola/ Uber.

For almost 18 years I lived in 45 Bungalows locality, adjacent to bustling New Market, the very heart of Bhopal. Despite living in a centrally-located colony, catching an early morning train in pre-Ola days used to be a nightmare. I would ride my scooter to New Market and scout for auto rickshaws, haggle over fare and finally succumb to their blackmail.

I now live in Char Imli, almost a land-locked island in town, with no access to an auto service. But, thanks to an application in my mobile, I find it easier to reach airport or railway station even at unearthly hours. The application helps me book a cab that navigates the way to my difficult-to-reach house through GPS, arrives on time and takes me in air-conditioned comfort to Bhopal railway station for the princely sum of Rs 140. Two years ago I used to pay Rs 150 for the same trip to an auto that had difficulty accommodating my luggage. Another family member, a youngster, summons Ola or Jugnoo auto rickshaws that charge him Rs 29 for reaching his coaching class in MP Nagar, almost a-third of the fare demanded by other auto drivers.

But all this may become a thing of the past if MP Government’s proposed rules come into effect.

• Under the proposed rules, the government will prescribe fare of cabs. If past experience of radio cabs, licensed by urban welfare department in Bhopal and Indore, is anything to go by, the fare may not be consumer friendly. The government had fixed radio cabs’ rate at Rs 20 per km. Uber charges Rs 6 to Rs 8. Worse, radio cabs’ services were totally unreliable, with customers frequently missing their flights and trains. Instead of fixing the fare, the transport department ought to fix a ceiling on maximum fare charged by aggregators.

• The registration fee is exorbitant. The aggregators need to register for each town they will operate in and also separately in each category like cab, auto and motorbike. For example, if Ola wants to start its service from each district headquarter, an ideal condition, it will have to pay Rs 46 lakh as licence fee for two years. And the security deposit will come to a hefty Rs 6.63 crore. The aggregators, which are already running in heavy losses, may increase fare. Failing that, it should not come as a surprise that the wind up their operation in MP altogether. The way the transport department is behaving, that is not too far fetched, say industry insiders.

• The proposed amendment says that aggregators need to have a minimum of 25 cabs in each city. That requirement will stall the growth of start ups. It will also breed monopoly of big operators. Also, the services cannot spread to smaller towns like, say, Vidisha. The smaller towns may not have scope for 25 vehicles initially. It will kill growth of cab services in interior areas.

• The government also wants the power to specify the colour of the vehicles! Is it aware that most cabbies are registered with both Ola and Uber and shift to either service according to their convenience and preference?

The irony is that all this is being done by a government that cannot enforce discipline on illegal mini buses, a government that has miserably failed to stop open loot and fleecing by errant auto drivers. But it wants to bring under purview application base taxis which are popular because they provide cheap and transparent service. Certainly, they need to be regulated. But they must be allowed the space to operate and compete with other public transport services.

The convenience and relief application based taxi aggregators have brought to commuters can’t be appreciated by those who have access to a fleet of free chauffeur-driven sarkari vehicles, one for sahib, another for mem sahib and the third for baba log. And they are the people who have framed these rules!

Powers That Be, my columns published in DB Post of 6th November 2017

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