Uber has been granted a renewal of its transport aggregator licence by the Karnataka State Transport Authority (KSTA), making it the one licensed participant within the state for vehicles and autorickshaws.
The corporate’s licence has been renewed for 5 years, from 31 December 2021 to 30 December 2026, beneath the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Expertise Aggregators Guidelines, 2016. Whereas the renewal covers each automotive and autorickshaw companies, bike taxis stay in a separate regulatory lane. A court docket has accepted their operation however the state authorities is but to formally reply.
An Uber spokesperson mentioned, “We’re happy to obtain our transport aggregator licence in Karnataka, a state that has been one in all Uber’s most vital markets in India. This licence displays our continued dedication to serving riders and drivers throughout the state.”
The most recent improvement ends a protracted interval of regulatory uncertainty for app-based taxi aggregators within the state. Ola’s licence expired in June 2021 and Uber’s lapsed in December of the identical 12 months. The transport division had cited non-compliance with the principles, saying each firms utilized for a renewal after their licences had already expired as an alternative of 60 days earlier than expiry, and their objections to sure operational necessities, together with establishing a toll-free assist line. The businesses resisted, arguing a number of guidelines had change into out of date due to advances in know-how.
The businesses had been capable of proceed working solely due to a court docket order that restrained authorities from taking “any coercive motion” after Ola and Uber argued they had been know-how platforms reasonably than transport operators. Rapido, which had utilized for a separate licence to function autorickshaws, was additionally caught up within the regulatory backlog.
Phrases and circumstances
Uber’s renewed licence formalises its compliance with Karnataka’s rules. Issued beneath Part 93 of the Motor Automobiles Act, it permits an app-based platform to behave as a digital middleman for taxi companies.
It comes with sure circumstances akin to minimal fleet thresholds, a management room in Bengaluru, GPS and panic-button necessities, police verification of drivers, adherence to government-fixed fares, and a grievance-redressal mechanism, “failing which the authority can droop or cancel the licence,” mentioned Rohit Jain, managing accomplice at legislation agency Singhania & Co. For Uber, the licence formalises compliance and strengthens security oversight in a market the place regulatory readability has lengthy been elusive, he added.