UT makes declaring fare policy must for app-based cab operators

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 14

The UT Administration has made it clear to app-based cab aggregators — Uber, Meru and Ola — to declare their fare policies before starting operations in the city. They cannot charge anything above the declared fare and will also be not allowed to hike it beyond the maximum fare to be fixed by the Administration from time to time. The aggregators will not only put their fare policies in the public domain but also mention every detail in the bills issued to customers.

This was conveyed to the aggregators during their meeting with the officials of the Transport Department here today.

Besides the cab aggregators, radio taxi operators, representatives of consumer organisations and social activists participated in the meeting.

Transport Secretary KK Jindal said, “We had a detailed discussion with the stakeholders. The final policy will be out within a week after considering the objections and suggestions received from them.”

The Transport Department had convened the final meeting on the draft policy, “On-demand Transport Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016”, on app-based taxis today.

Sources said the Administration might relax some conditions mentioned in the draft policy as aggregators had flagged practical and technical problems in implementing these.

All cab aggregators opposed installation of CCTV camera in taxis citing privacy of the customer and their inability to store such a huge data it would entail. They also found installation of digital meter and printer inside the cab to print the invoice impractical. The condition that drivers should have two years of experience was also opposed.

Meanwhile, there were different opinions on having the panic button in the cab. While consumer organisations were in its favour, the aggregators claimed that their mobile app had every security feature and the customer could send a message to the police on finding anything suspicious during the travel.

KK Jindal said, “We will examine the objections raised by the aggregators but will not compromise with the passenger’s security.”

Ajay Jagga, an advocate, demanded an increase in different types of fees prescribed in the draft policy, which was opposed by the aggregators. Jagga suggested inclusion of the privacy clause in the policy which will constrain the aggregators from sharing personal information of customers.

Some stakeholders also demanded that the number of cabs that aggregators could run in the city should be fixed by the Administration in order to reduce the traffic congestion.

The draft policy was framed following an advisory by the Centre last year asking the states to frame a policy for web-cum-IT-based taxis.