Govt Issues Fresh Guidelines For Cab Aggregators
- by Claude Bryan
- in Markets
- — Nov 29, 2020
The government guidelines recommended that so-called surge prices at busy times can be a maximum of 1.5 times the base fare and that companies must provide insurance cover for drivers and limit them to working no more than 12 hours a day. The drivers, who were also demanding free housing from the state government, also sought implementation of a minimum fixed price and taxi metres, and cutting down on excessive commission charged by cab aggregators.
The new guidelines also require data generated on ride-hailing apps to be stored on servers in India for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 24months.
The final guidelines, which are to be considered by the state governments when issuing licences to aggregators, say drivers should receive 80 percent of the ride fare with the taxi companies receiving the remaining 20 percent.
The data will also have to be made accessible to the Indian government as per law but customers data will not be shared without the consent of the user. A compulsory five-day training of the drivers, which will have to be done at the time of their induction as well, will include topics such as efficient use of the app, provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, careful driving, motor vehicle maintenance, on-road safety and first-responder training, terms and conditions of the contract with the aggregator, gender sensitisation, etc. Any information identified with clients won't be unveiled without the composed assent of the client, the rules state.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, meant to regulate the hitherto unregulated cab aggregator segment, which is mainly controlled by two players - the US-based Uber and Bengaluru-based Ola Cabs.
During non-peak hours, the aggregators will be permitted to charge a fare that is 50 per cent lower than the base fare. "Prior to the amendment, the regulation of aggregator was not available". The stage in September a year ago had additionally written to Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari looking for flood cost to be covered at around 25%.
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All the tests were negative so now, if nothing changes, he's available, which is good. I don't want to speak too much about it". He can now train with us tomorrow.
States can regulate eligibility conditions, compliances on vehicles, drivers, apps and websites, fares, drivers' welfare and evolving concepts like auto pooling and ride-sharing.
The city taxi passage recorded by WPI for the current year will be the base toll chargeable to clients profiting aggregator administration. For cancellation of bookings, either by the driver or the rider, the penalty has been fixed at 10 per cent of the fare, but it can not exceed Rs 100.
"The guidelines may be applicable to aggregators onboarding transport vehicles in the area of operation".
Impact on driver government assistance and occupation because of infringement of legally binding commitments, among others.
It will also ensure a term insurance for each driver integrated with the aggregator for an amount not less than Rs 10 lakh with base year 2020-21 and increase by 5 per cent each Year. State governments should follow the rules gave by the middle while giving the permit to an aggregator.
The cab aggregators will also have to establish a 24X7 control room and all drivers will have to mandatorily be connected to the control room at all times. Further, for women passengers seeking to avail ride-pooling, the aggregators will need to provide the option to pool only with other women passengers.
