BENGALURU: Transport Department officials on Friday seized close to 30 cabs operating using taxi aggregator services like Ola and Uber following a deadline issued by the department to suspend “pool” or share services. Vehicles were seized from seven prime locations. Despite the notice by the Transport department, prominent taxi aggregators - Uber and Ola continued to provide shared ride facility.
Ola and Uber had started operating ride-sharing services in 2016. Soon Transport department received complaints from drivers of cab-aggregator services and others, against the service. Traditional taxi operators too complained against the service, which was severely impacting their revenue.
Auto drivers too had threatened to go on an indefinite strike and take the matter to court if the transport department did not act against the shared service system. As a result, the department decided to withdraw share services, stating that such services are not outlined in the Motor Vehicles Act and other rules.
Irked by this, Ola and Uber have started a petition drive against the move, to ask the people their opinion of the share ride system. Meanwhile, members of the Ola and Uber drivers association in Bengaluru who have opposed the share rides have also started a petition to collect public opinion regarding the issue.