MUMBAI: Fleet cab firms across the country, including Meru and TabCab, have jointly demanded that aggregators like Uber and Ola should not be allowed to indulge in “predator pricing”, there should be one law to govern all taxi services, and CNG should be encouraged in all taxis.
This was part of a petition sent this week to the Delhi high court-constitued committee at the Centre, which has been entrusted with suggesting guidelines for taxis and aggregators across the country. The Maharashtra government has held back implementation of its City Taxi scheme, awaiting the Centre’s guidelines.
A fleet cab firm official said, “Some taxi aggregators have recently resorted to surge and predatory pricing to kill competition.” Aggregator firms denied the charge, saying fare calculations were based on an algorithm which surged prices to encourage more drivers to be on the road.
Headed by the Union road transport secretary, the central panel comprises few state transport commissioners, including Praveen Gedam from Maharashtra. The committee was set up by the HC recently in response to requests by taxi operators to be able to share their perspective and recommendations that would benefit all stakeholders and ensure a fair and level-playing field. Association of Radio Taxi India secretary Siddhartha Pahwa said, “We hope the committee considers concerns of majority of the taxi segment to ensure a level-playing field for all stakeholders of the industry.”
Fleet cab operators have also sought all-India tourist permits, public service vehicle badges for all, digital fare meters for all, and they said that if taxi-tops are not mandatory for aggregator cabs, they should be optional for all others.