Ola gets license to run in Bangalore. Uber is still waiting.

Both Ola and Uber have furnished details of cars complying with new regulations. But it’s only the local player to get the nod so far. Photo credit: Pixabay.

Ola’s the first off the line in the race to get licences to operate as “on-demand transportation aggregators” in Bangalore. The Indian taxi-hailing app got the license after providing details of 100 cabs to the local transport authorities as per new rules notified in April. All other Ola cabs will have to fall in line too over a period of time.

Its global rival Uber has also filed documents on around 150 cabs, as reported by Tech in Asia on Saturday. But it is yet to get a license, even though it has bent over backwards to install digital fare meters and GPS-powered panic buttons in the cars of its so-called “partner drivers” to comply with the new rules.

These rules were framed by Karnataka state, whose capital is Bangalore, following an advisory by the central government. Uber and its drivers went to court objecting to the new rules because they are “pretty much the same ones that came out in 1988 for the radio taxi industry,” according to Uber’s GM for southern and western India, Bhavik Rathod.

Upper limit on surge prices

Uber’s new digital taxi meter fitted in the glove compartment. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court, where the matter is being heard, has extended its stay on impounding of cabs which haven’t got the new license. Uber’s surge pricing, banned under the new rules, is also on hold. The next hearing is tomorrow.

The central government has advised states to only put upper limits for different categories of cars that the surge price cannot cross, instead of insisting on a fully regulated price. In that case, the fare meters in the cabs will only be used as a check on the upper limits.

However, taxi unions are likely to lobby hard for fixed prices. More than surge prices, it is the lower fares of many Uber and Ola rides, compared to the fares of traditional taxis, which are a concern for them. A taxi union protested in Mumbai today demanding that Uber and Ola should also have a fixed regulated price.