treeviewThe High Court of Karnataka has ordered the State government to determine the rate of app-based auto rickshaw aggregators within 15 days, which is an important decision. Up until that point, the Court has permitted the service providers to levy an extra 10% fee on top of the government-set rate.
The government set the auto rickshaw prices in June 2011. Recently, the government outlawed app-based auto rickshaw-hailing services because they were adding surcharges to the government-set fee.
In granting the request of ANI Technologies Private Limited, which runs Ola, Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd, and Uber India Systems Private Limited, Justice MGS Kamal issued an order on Friday allowing the 10 percent surcharge along with any applicable GST and stating that this would only be a temporary measure until the new fares are fixed.
The Transport Department was only ready to permit a maximum of 10%, despite the aggregators’ demands for at least a 20% fee. Because the license granted under the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules was only for taxis and not auto rickshaws, the government this week outlawed app-based auto rickshaw-hailing services.
The government has agreed to speak with the aggregators but has argued that auto rickshaws are exempt from its regulations. The court ruled that the Central Government’s Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines 2020 (MVAG) encompass auto rickshaws, e-rickshaws, motorbikes, and buses as well. The court ruled that any of these vehicles might be utilized to provide aggregator service.