March 25, 2019
BENGALURU: The Karnataka Government has decided to lift the six-month ban imposed
on Ola cab service in the State for violating the terms of licence by running
bike taxi. The licence was suspended on Friday.
The disruption in the cab-hailing service for the past few days had caused
inconvenience to millions of commuters as well as thousands of cabbies who earn
a living by driving the Ola cars.
Ola tweeted on Monday, "We’re glad to inform that the matter regarding licensing
in Karnataka is fully resolved. We're committed to working with the Govt. to
enhance livelihoods of thousands of driver partners & facilitate mobility needs
of millions of people. Appreciate your continued faith & support."
It has been agreed that Ola will pay fine for the violation of the rules of
licence. The Transport Authority will decide the quantum of fine. However, the
penalty had not been decided upon till Sunday and there was no comments from
Ola either.
Meanwhile, the Government has assured the public that the service will be back
on Monday.
In fact, on February 15 Ola was issued a notice for starting bike taxi in violation
of the rule and agreement and reportedly seized 400 bikes. Later the order suspending
all services was sent to ANI Technologies on March 18.
Ola had said in a statement then, “This notification is unfortunate, and we
look forward to an opportunity to address these concerns directly with state
officials to find a solution for our driver partners and millions of Ola users
in Karnataka.”
The cab service serves millions of people and has thousands of drivers and
vehicles under its banner. Ola's competitor Uber also had faced a similar situation
in 2016. Uber had to pull back its two-wheelers and fall in line.
Bengaluru, where it is headquartered, is Ola's biggest market.
Like bike taxis, car-pooling is also banned in the city. It has been felt that
the Government policies have remained archaic in a fast-moving world and that
is causing problems for the people, especially traffic congestion.