Delhi govt grants license to Chennai-based cab service; Uber, Ola await

Delhi government on Saturday granted the licence to a Chennai-based cab service provider to run radio taxis for five years in the national capital. However, the decision on extending such permits to the US-based firm Uber, Taxi For Sure, and Ola Cabs is yet to be taken by the government. According to a transport department official, NTL Call Taxi Pvt. Ltd. has become the first company to procure the licence since the introduction of ‘Modified Radio Taxi Scheme (2006)’ and will now be allowed to operate a cab service in the city. “The government today granted the license to NTL Call Taxi Pvt. Ltd. after which it can operate their taxis in the city for the five years,” said the official. According to the government, parking of the firm’s taxis will be at Chhattarpur Enclave in New Delhi. The company is likely to start operating its cab service within next 15 days in the national capital. Last month, the government had found deficiencies in the application by the US-based company Uber, which had applied through a subsidiary, Resource Expert India Pvt. Ltd. It also found deficiencies in the applications of Taxi For Sure and APRA Cabs India Pvt. Ltd., which had applied for a licence under the brand name of Ola Cabs. Government has asked these three-app based companies to furnish details to it as mentioned in the recently-introduced ‘Modified Radio Taxi Scheme (2006)’. Uber was banned on December 8 and blacklisted by the government after its driver allegedly raped a woman executive inside the car. The government had thereafter banned all app-based cab service providers following the outrage over the incident. PTI