Can't block Uber, Ola due to high encryption codes, say ISPs

DoT had issued a letter to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) asking them to block websites of taxi operators Uber, TaxiForSure and Ola Cabs, following a request from the Delhi government. However, websites are still accessible to all. ISPs now say they are unable to block taxi aggregator websites - Ola and Uber - due to high encryption codes. ISPs can only block http sites and not https as the latter have higher encryption. This means they can block TaxiForSure, but not Ola and Uber. “These sites can not be blocked because of technical issues. We have already given representation to government earlier. This was a general representation. We are giving compliance except in https sites,” Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) President Rajesh Chharia said. He added that DoT had itself accepted that there was a need to set up a committee to discuss modalities around blocking of https sites around 3-4 months back. The Delhi government had written to the Department of Electronic & Information Technology (Deity) in March that despite the ban, Uber, Ola Cabs and TaxiForSure continue to book passengers through their apps. All app-based cab services were banned in the national capital last year after a driver of Uber, the US-based online taxi-hailing company, was allegedly accused of raping a female passenger. With inputs from PTI