Finally, the hearing for the granting operational licenses to ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber in Pune will be held on July 8.
It should be noted that both the companies are operating in the city without licenses for a decade. On Tuesday, the tribunal's judicial official was absent and hence the next date was given.
All the stakeholders like representatives from Ola, Uber, drivers' unions, and the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) were present for the hearing.
License applications were cancelled in March
In March, a meeting had been chaired by District Collector Suhas Diwase in the presence of other transport officials. After this, the RTO issued an official letter rejecting the license applications of ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd (parent company of Ola) and Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd. The firms were given a 30-day window to apply to a higher authority after which they approached the SAT.
The State Transport Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has rescheduled the hearing to June 18. The hearing was initially scheduled to be held on April 22 to decide whether Ola and Uber are permitted to operate in Pune. However, due to Uber’s delay in appealing to the SAT, the hearing was postponed to June. The SAT had asked the RTO to provide its input in the case of Uber. In Ola’s case, the RTO had already submitted its stance on April 20.
The rejection of aggregator licenses raises the question for Punekars: Will cabs still operate in Pune?
Following a review on March 11, all transport authorities concluded that the documents of both ride-hailing companies did not meet the required norms outlined by the central government’s Motor Vehicles Aggregators’ Guidelines, 2020.
Despite approximately 45,000 to 50,000 cabs, including those operated by Ola and Uber, having been operational in the city since 2014 without licenses, various complaints from cab drivers about fare increases remained unaddressed due to the absence of a state policy, leading to uncertainty.
Although the transport authority rejected the licenses of both companies to operate autos in the city in 2023, they continued to provide auto services.
Thus, if the verdict goes against the companies, it might affect the operations of both the service providers if they don't comply to given norms in the city.
