The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered status quo on the Bombay High Court order that had last month directed cab aggregators like Ola and Uber to apply for valid licences after the Central government’s Motor Vehicle Aggregator (MVA) Guidelines, 2020. The order came on an appeal filed by Uber India Services against the HC order.
The Bombay High Court had on March 7 asked the aggregators to seek and obtain licences by the rules framed by the Central government within a week, as the Maharashtra government was yet to frame its own cab aggregator rules in line with the Central government’s statute.
Though the HC had issued the directions on a PIL highlighting the lack of an effective grievance redressal mechanism for customers using the Uber India app, it had refrained from prohibiting such cabs from plying in the meantime, saying it was aware such a move would adversely affect commuters.
The guidelines prescribed by the Central government in December 2020 had laid down various procedures about conditions for grant of licence to an aggregator, compliance with regard to vehicles, regulation of fares, etc. Based on it, state governments were supposed to frame their norms. But such cab aggregators were operating in Maharashtra based on permits issued to them under Maharashtra City Taxi Rules 2017.
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On Thursday, while asking the parties to maintain status quo, a Bench led by Justice LN Rao also sought a response from the Union transport ministry and the Maharashtra government. Senior counsel AM Singhvi, appearing for Uber India, argued many conditions in the guidelines are not workable and it had already raised the issue before the Union ministry. Therefore, Uber is yet to apply for a licence under the guidelines, he added.
