HYDERABAD: The lack of regulations on taxi aggregators operating in the city has led to an unregulated increase in the number of yellow plate motor cab vehicles plying the city roads, reveals Telangana Road Transport Authority (RTA) data.
As on January 1, 2017, the number of cabs on the city roads have crossed one lakh figure. And officials claim most of them are registered in districts.
The RTA data shows a 22.88 per cent increase in the number of motor cabs for the year 2016-17. The data for 2015-16 stood at 15.4 per cent increase and 9.66 per cent increase for the year 2014-15. The data also showed an increase in the number of maxi cabs.
“There has to be a policy that will put restrictions on the number of permits given but as of now there are no discussions on these policies happening,” said a senior official with the RTA. The data is for the whole state, most of the taxis that operate in the city are registered in other districts, he added.
Uber was launched in January 2014 and Ola in December the same year in Hyderabad. The lucrative incentives put forth by the taxi aggregators saw a lot of taxi drivers adopting the platform. Several, who were not previously taxi drivers, also signed up. In 2017, the state minorities finance corporation along with Uber planned to implement a ‘driver empowerment programme’ aimed to provide new cars to eligible drivers from minority communities in the state. This is apart from both the taxi aggregators having their own cab leasing programme. Both taxi aggregators have, in the past, openly admitted that their market strategy is to make the maximum number of taxis available for commuters.
The rise in number of motor cabs comes at a time when Karnataka RTA officials are planning to put a cap on permits for yellow number plates for motor cars, mainly used by Ola and Uber. The state government of Karnataka has been battling the taxi aggregator in court.
“Its pointless that we (in Hyderabad) take any step right now. Karnataka and the taxi aggregators have gone to court and a single bench judge ruled in favour of the state but now an appeal has been filed by the taxi people. If we form our own rules and regulations right now, it will only lead to more confusion. Let the verdict come and only then we can take any step forward,” said T Raghunath, joint commissioner , RTA Hyderabad.