Tanisha Rana
Published on: October 14, 2022 at 21:38 IST
The Ola, Uber, and Rapido app-based transportation technology aggregators were permitted by the High Court of Karnataka to charge an additional 10% fee on top of the rates set by the State Government and the applicable GST for providing autorickshaw services through their platforms until the government fixes rates in accordance with the law.
Additionally, the court ordered the State Government to refrain from using coercive measures against app-based aggregators who provide autorickshaw services through their platforms until the petitions brought by the aggregators have been decided.
The court issued the temporary injunction because the government and aggregators’ latest round of negotiations on October 13 evening failed to produce agreement on key areas.
The State Government requested 10-15 days for the fixation of rates for autorickshaw services provided by aggregators based on the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines (MVAG) 2020 issued by the Central Government in November 2020, and Justice M.G.S. Kamal granted the temporary order after the State Government admitted it had not reviewed the MVAG 2020.
Earlier, Justice Kamal informed the government’s attorney that the Central Government had issued guidelines in 2020 that, in a scientific and technical manner, address the problems that have arisen in Karnataka regarding autorickshaw services and regulation of the fares to be charged by the aggregators.
The court discovered that MVAG 2020 mentions autorickshaws, e-rickshaws, motor cabs, motorcycles, and buses among vehicles that can be offered through the platforms of aggregators, contradicting the State Government’s assertion that aggregators cannot provide autorickshaw services.
In response, the Advocate General stated that the government is willing to investigate the problems while discussing MVAG 2020 and that they were waiting for a suitable time to announce a rate fixation for app-based aggregators that provide autorickshaw services.
The AG requested that aggregators, who lack a specific licence for providing autorickshaw services through their platforms, refrain from charging more than what the government has set as the maximum on June 11, 2021.
The aggregators’ legal counsel claimed that the AG’s insistence on shutting down their services will simply make it impossible for them to continue operating the services without charging more fees.
Later, the AG informed the court that the aggregators might be permitted to charge an additional 5–10% fee on direction from Transport Department officials.
The court stated that 10% additional charges would only be for the time being in order to meet the ends of justice while keeping in mind the interest of all stakeholders, including the general public, despite the fact that aggregators’ advocates claimed it would be difficult to operate with 10% additional charges while seeking at least 20% additional charges.
The Transport Department’s order to stop offering autorickshaw services through these companies’ apps was challenged in court by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd., which offers taxi aggregator service through Ola app, and Uber India Services Pvt. Ltd., which offers services through Uber app, and Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd., which offers service through Rapido app.