The Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Pune has asked the Transport Commissioner to shut down the operations of 18 taxi aggregators in the city. According to Pune RTO, these “18 companies are operating businesses through their websites and applications without appropriate and needed licences.” Some of these companies include big names like MakeMyTrip and RedBus. Read on to know more about this.
Pune RTO: Taxi Aggregators Like Redbus & MakeMyTrip Illegal
As per the Pune RTO, 18 taxi aggregator companies will be shut down soon. This is because they’re operating illegally in the city. According to the Pune authority, these companies are working without the appropriate licences required under the Motor Vehicles Act. They are running their businesses through their websites and applications and don’t have the necessary documentation.
These 18 companies include MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, RedBus, Gozo Cab, Savari, InDrive, Rapido, Car Bazar, Taxi Bazar, Bla Bla Car, Cab-E, One Way Cab, Quick Ryde, S Ride, GaddiBooking by Kuldew, Taxi Wars, RouteMatic, and Owner Taxi.
This move comes after many requests from the taxi unions in the city. The RTO has now ordered the Transport Commissioner to shut down their websites and apps. Ola and Uber did not fall under this verdict because, as per RTO, they have already applied for a licence under the central aggregator policy. However, a decision for their licence is also currently pending.
Sanjeev Bhor, Deputy Commissioner RTO Pune, told Pune Pulse, “These companies are illegal as they do not have permission to operate. What we have done is that we have informed the Transport Commissioner’s office, after receiving a lot of complaints, about these companies being illegal & to inform the Pune Cyber Crime to take relevant action against these.”
What These Companies Need To Do To Operate In Pune?
For a company to conduct taxi business in a region, they need to take certain permissions from the RTO. This is according to a provision of Section 93 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. All these 18 companies need to obtain permission before conducting business. Since they failed to do so, their operations in the city will be suspended. As per the official letter issued, “The Special Inspector General of Cyber Cell should take action to shut down the websites of such companies.”
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