New Policy Drafted by Delhi Government to Regulate App-Based Taxis

India: A new policy has been drafted by Delhi government to regulate the app-based taxis. As per the draft, the cab aggregator companies would be bound to charge fares as set by the transport department.

According to the new policy, the cab companies will not be allowed to surge their prices and will have to use meters for fare calculation. In order to ensure safety of passengers, especially women, the cab aggregator companies would require to install Global Positioning System (GPS) in the cabs.

As stated by the transport minister, "The policy will be exclusively for all the app-based taxis giving their services in Delhi. We will fix fares for them as we have done in the case of radio, economy cabs and yellow-black taxis. They can charge minimal fares, but they cannot charge more than the fares prescribed by the Transport Department. All app-based taxi services will be regulated through this policy". Moreover, the transport minister said that once the new rules are laid down, app-based cab companies will be bound to follow the same.

Currently, Ola and Uber are operating their taxis in the capital without being registered with the Delhi government's Transport Department. However, as per the new policy, these companies will have to acquire license to operate their taxis in Delhi.

According to a recent report published by TechSci Research, “India Radio Taxi Services Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, Radio taxi services market in India has been exhibiting strong growth over the last few years with tier-I and tier-II cities witnessing vast improvements in their transportation systems. With changing travellers lifestyle and preferences, an increasing number of people in the country, especially corporates, prefer well-maintained, on-time taxi services, which is majorly addressed by organized radio taxi service providers in the country. Organized radio taxis provide safe, reliable and comfortable travel experience to commuters, along with various other facilities like online booking/payment option, booking through applications, 24x7 availability, discounts, etc.

TechSci Research believes that, implementation of new policy would fuel the competition amongst the cab aggregators and own asset cabs in the near future.