Within a week after the Karnataka government called for a ban on app-based auto services in Bengaluru, the Telangana Gig And Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) has called for introducing legislation for these apps.

The union has urged the Telangana government to bring out a legislation based on the Motor Vehicle Aggregators’ Guidelines introduced by the Centre, Hindu Business Line reported.

“The Karnataka government is able to put Uber and Ola on notice on base fares because they enacted a law and brought in rules to regulate the app-based vehicle-hailing companies,” Shaik Salauddin, the president of Telangana Gig And Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), said as quoted in the report.

 Salauddin also added that the road transport ministry issued Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines in 2020. It is pertinent to note that the government introduced the guidelines  to provide a framework to the state governments and union territories for the issuance of licences and regulate the business conducted by cab aggregators. 

As the guidelines are a framework for state governments, they may allude to the guidelines whenever issuing the licence to any cab aggregator, he noted.

Legislation To Regulate Fare Pricing

In its memorandum submitted to the Telangana government, the gig worker association requested to take a call on introducing a legislation immediately.

“The base fare of a trip would be on the basis of city taxi fare as indexed in WPI. It capped the surge pricing at 1.5 times the base fare, while the minimum price chargeable has been capped at 50 per cent off of the base fare,” the association said.

This comes close on the heels of the Karnataka government issuing an order last Thursday asking Ola, Uber and Rapido to discontinue their auto services in Bengaluru within three days for overcharging customers.

The government said that the practice of charging INR 100 for auto rides for even a distance of under two kilometers is  ‘illegal’. However, despite the order, the cab aggregators were unlikely to stop auto services. Notably, the apps have reportedly reduced their fares to INR 30 for the first two kilometers, in response to the notice.

From state governments to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), central government, the cab aggregator services stay under strong scrutiny. On the other hand, these services have been receiving strong criticism from users as well due to high price for rides, cancellation of cab bookings, among others.

In the meantime, India’s online taxi services market that was valued at INR 30.72 Bn in FY20, is projected to reach INR 55.15 Bn in size by FY25, as per a report. The four-wheeler ride-sharing market is dominated by Ola, Uber and Meru.