No relief: HC fumes as Ola violates govt ban, threatens to shut down co

New Delhi - Admonishing app-based cab service Ola for not complying with the ban imposed on it by the state government, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant it any interim relief and directed “strict” enforcement of the order which has been “violated with impunity”. Justice Manmohan directed the Delhi government and traffic police to “strictly enforce” their order of January 1, 2015, by which the operation of app-based cab services was banned until they complied with the guidelines of Radio Taxi Scheme of 2006 which was amended on December 26 last year. [caption id=“attachment_2371070” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The court directed the government and police to “strictly enforce” the ban[/caption] The court passed the interim order while issuing notices to the Centre, traffic police and Delhi government seeking their response to Ola’s plea for lifting of the ban. The court said the matter has to be heard extensively and listed the matter for further hearing on October 5. The court refused to provide any relief to Ola, which is the brand name of ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, saying its plea challenging the ban order was not only “inordinately delayed” by six months, but during the period it had violated the ban with “impunity”. “The court is of the prima facie view that the petitioner thinks its vehicles don’t ply on the road, but fly in the air. This court is of the view that a ban has to be complied with till it is stayed or set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction,” Justice Manmohan also said. The judge refused to lift the ban also on the ground that “since Delhi is regarded as one of the most polluted cities of the world and quality of diesel supplied has been adversely commented upon by the Supreme Court at various times, this court feels that it should err on the side of caution and not lift the ban till it is convinced there is no ban on plying of AITP taxis in the national capital”. Ola uses taxis having All India Tourist Permit (AITP) for providing services in the national capital. The court also sought an affidavit from Ola that it “will explicitly comply with orders of the court” and observed that the company has taken “an extreme stand” that “it will neither apply under the Radio Taxi Scheme nor abide by any condition including the one suggested during hearing”. The court had appeared going soft on Ola on July 15 when it suggested lifting of the ban. It had also said the cab company could be heard afresh by the Delhi government and, in the interim, use taxis that run on CNG. It had suggested use of CNG by such companies as it would create a level playing field among all taxi operators since radio taxis, which compete with app-based cabs, run on that fuel in the national capital. The court said the company had given the impression that it was amenable to the suggestion. However, on July 28, Ola had said the ban order does not apply to it. The judge also observed, “I am wondering how you are operating despite a ban.” Noting that in Delhi taxis have to be Euro IV compliant, the court said those in other states only need to be Euro II or Euro III compliant to get a AITP and added how would a policeman know whether the taxi was Euro IV or Euro III. “You have done it very intelligently,” the court told Ola and the association representing AITP taxi owners. The court had yesterday questioned how Ola was operating in the national capital when the city government’s order banning them had not been stayed and warned of a shutdown if it thought it was above the law. Ola has contended that it was not amenable to the Delhi government’s modified Radio Taxi Scheme as cabs contracted by it have AITPs and thus, it does not need to apply for licence to operate in the city. It also said as per the Supreme Court order of 1998, cabs only had to comply with Euro-II (and now Euro IV) norms and switching to CNG was not a mandatory requirement. It said the restriction imposed by the apex court was with respect to the age of the vehicles and not the kind of fuel used. Additional Standing Counsel for Delhi government, Naushad Ahmed Khan, had told the court while its subsidiaries applied for licence, Ola did not. He had also said that the present petition was moved by Ola after its subsidiaries’ applications for licences had been rejected by the transport department on the ground of non-compliance. PTI