RTO to stop Ola’s shuttle service

Mumbai: History repeated itself after Ola launched its bus shuttle services on Monday without acquiring requisite permission from the transport office.

Around three years ago, Ola and Uber had launched themselves in a similar fashion without any consultation with the government.

Additional commissioner Satish Sahastrabuddhe said that the aggregator-based company did not approach them at all before starting the shuttle services and it was only through newspaper reports that they came to know about it. “They (Ola) had not told us anything about the services. We were unaware but after we saw reports, we have sent a letter to them to tell us under what part of the rules have they brought the service,” he said.

Sahastrabuddhe added that the services did not fall under any scheme of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA). “We are not aware of how they have decided the fare structure and are waiting for their response to the letter we have sent them for 48 hours, after which, action will be taken,” he said.

The services are expected to further hit the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) services that have already taken a beating due to share auto-rickshaws and taxis.

According to the MVA, only BEST has a stage carrier permit, which is basically a license to run services that have quick halts and facilitate short-distance public transport. An official from the transport office said, “These companies have a criminal disregard for the rules of the land. They seem to have invaded the transport sector without any concern.”

Ola and Uber have both also faced criticism after increasing frequency of the number of surge bookings faced by passengers.

The surge bookings in fact had reached almost 80 per cent of the ride bookings made by commuters during both peak and non-peak hours.