BENGALURU: If you are planning to take a Meru Genie cab to work on Tuesday, be prepared to face hassles as the Transport Department has decided to detain vehicles operating under the ‘Genie’ brand. This comes after the department officials raided the offices of Meru cabs in the city on Monday but the company refused to share information.
While continuing its stint of raids on illegal transport operations in the city, the officials found that several vehicles belonging to Meru Cabs did not have proper documentation. Meru, however, has a licence to operate and is registered with the Transport Department.
A senior official said, “Several vehicles did not have fitness or emission certificates or other required documents. However, since they are registered with us, we have given them time till tomorrow (Tuesday) to show the documents.”
Officials said that the company did not give any information about the operations of the low-cost Genie cabs in the city. “They told us that the service is managed from Mumbai and that there were no numbers, documents or representatives in the city. They asked for a week’s time, but they cannot operate in the city without a licence. Hence, we decided to detain them from Tuesday,” the official added.
Genie cabs are operated by Meru Cabs and the fares are lower than the standard Meru rates. Even coupon codes used for discounts in Genie cabs have the same promo code — Meru150. The website describes Genie as ‘an initiative by India’s No. 1 radio cab service, Meru Cabs’. The service is operated by V-Link, which also operates Meru Radio Taxi and Meru Plus Car Rental services.
According to a statement issued by the Transport Department, of the 1,053 cabs owned by Meru in the city, 701 are operational on the road. “There were many complaints from commuters against this company for charging extra and additional surcharge. Legal action will be initiated by the department against Meru Genie,” the statement says.
However, CEO of Meru Cabs Company Pvt Ltd Siddhartha Pahwa termed the search a routine inspection. “Meru has shown all documents. The authorities were satisfied and we will submit all documents tomorrow (on Tuesday),” he said in a message.