At a time, when the Centre is mulling a nationwide ban on all application-based taxi services in India, the public, industry experts and investors in a few of these app-based service providers feel that the Government should come out with “clear and transparent laws and create a level-playing field for all”.
The Union Home Ministry has advised all States and Union Territories in the country to ban all app-based taxi services, such as Uber, Ola, Taxiforsure and Bookmycab, until they secure a licence from the respective governments. However, it also clarified that the ban was temporary and would be lifted as and when a proper regulatory framework was in place.
“I think the Government is sensible and will do the right thing as opposed to a knee-jerk reaction,” said Anupam Mittal, founder of People Group, which has ventures such as Shaadi.com. He is an investor in about 45 tech-based start-ups, including OlaCabs.
Uber has allegedly violated a clause that says that in Delhi only all-India tourist vehicles are exempt from running on clean fuel and not city taxis.
It is also said to have failed to seek permission from the Delhi transport department before starting services and was plying taxis with all-India permits, which can’t be used for point-to-point pick-ups or drops.
Industry experts, meanwhile, are of the view that these players are mere aggregators and hence do not require transport licenses while vendors/drivers signed up on the platform need to have them.
“These are like any other travel agents, phone directory service or any other hotel concierge service. For this, a hotel doesn’t require a transport licence. Similarly, the food-ordering apps do not require a restaurant licence,” said Rehan Yar Khan, Founder of venture capital firm Orios Venture Partner, which is an investor in Bangalore-based Olacabs.
“You can’t ban travel portals if something wrong happens with any flight. Similarly, these drivers and cabs signed up with Uber are all tourist vehicles with proper licences,” he added.
Khan pointed out that such bans risk the livelihood of thousands of micro-entrepreneurs, who might have taken loans to buy vehicles and be part of these service providers.
Ola has 30,000 cab drivers signed up on its platform, while Taxiforsure has a similar number with operations across 18 cities in the country.
“These app-based players are just providing travel-related services on a digital platform. The government must first get the authorities up to date with technology. The world is changing faster and lame authorities are adding no value to India's growth,” stated Paritosh Sharma, another investor and entrepreneur.