The Karnataka govt on Friday issued notices to Ola, Uber, and Rapido, ordering them to stop their autorickshaw services in three days. However, Rapido said the allegations made about extra money being charged are “completely false”
Complaints of overcharging
Karnataka’s transport department has notified cab aggregators Uber, Ola, and Rapido to end their autorickshaw services in three days, saying it had received complaints of overcharging. But Rapido said on Friday it would continue to operate in Bengaluru.
The startup said the “allegations being made regarding extra money charged by Rapido on auto taxi fares are completely false,” reported Economic Times.
“In light of the notice issued to auto-rickshaw service aggregators by the commissioner, Road Transport and Safety, Transport Department of Karnataka, Rapido would like to clarify that none of its operations in the city of Bengaluru are illegal. We have received a notice from the Road Transport Authority, and we will respond to it within the stipulated time,” the company added.
Objecting the ban
“All our fares are decided in agreement with the fares decided upon by the state government, and Rapido is not charging any extra money over those fares,” Rapido stated, adding it would “continue operating in Bengaluru under the ambit of the law”.
The Karnataka Transport Department on Friday published notices to Ola, Uber, and Rapido, demanding them to halt their autorickshaw services in three days. Apart from the allegations of overcharging, state transport commissioner THM Kumar stated that the licenses given to the aggregators – under the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016 – applied only to taxis and not autos.
The minimum fare of autorickshaws booked through aggregators had crossed Rs 100 in Bengaluru. The auto fare in Bengaluru is Rs 30 for the first 2 km and Rs 15 for every kilometer after that, reported The Times of India.
