Ministry of Road Transport and Highways releases guidelines for Uber, Ola and Taxi

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has released the guidelines for the transport industry which range from Taxi’s, tourist taxis, bikes, e-rickshaws, agents, aggregators and radio taxis. This framework helps companies like Uber and Ola by providing them with a fixed set of rules that they need to abide by instead of the gray area that it was before. The report published earlier this month also added recommendations from Niti Aayog in the report. The most important changes that the report outlines is that surge pricing are now allowed on cab hailing services such as Ola and Uber. There is a need for a national level policy to promote mobility platforms, and state governments should grant permits to Taxis and Tourist Taxis without any restriction on the number of licences. City Taxis like kali peeli’s can continue the way they function but can also join aggregator platforms like Uber and Ola Cabs. One interesting thing to note is that Niti Aayog does not agree to a separate licence or permit for Aggregators. The approval of permits should leverage digital technology to increase the speed of the process along with the online conversion of personal vehicles into taxis. Taxis will need to comply with safety and security of passengers with mandatory valid permit, insurance, fitness certification and GPS. Also, there should be no restrictions of any kind, either on the choice of operator or aggregator any additional choices that make taxi operation possible. However, the most important factor that the report points is the fact that app based aggregators need to validate their algorithms of surge pricing through Validation from Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification or any other certification agency authorised by the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology. The companies should be prepared for audits and must take measures like a firewall for enhanced user data security of the passengers. Another important thing the report recommended was the maximum surge pricing of four times more than the base charge between 12 midnight to 5 am in the morning. Even though the report goes on to add that the surge pricing will ensure that sufficient supply of taxis is present during peak hours and at night. These are no definition of the peak hours, and the minimum base charge is not fixed in the report. This could backfire for the aggregators could increase the pricing at any time during the day. Additionally, the aggregators should have a physical presence in each state for grievance redressal along with an emergency response centre to handle SOS alerts by the passengers. The app should have sufficient safety features for passengers in the case of any eventuality. Niti Aayog also points out that there is a need of App-based bus services to improve the connectivity in urban areas. Last but not least, the states should promote e-rickshaws and bike sharing for last mile connectivity. This comes right after the recent visit by Uber CEO  **Travis Kalanick** to India.