Uber to cap surge prices in Delhi as per Govt regulations

Cab aggregator Uber has informed the Delhi government that it is ready to cap its fares at rates fixed by the government, reports Mint. Currently, taxi services cost Rs 12.50 for economy taxis, Rs 14 & Rs 16 per km for non-AC and AC black and yellow top taxis, and Rs 23 per km for radio taxi cabs with an LCD board on the rooftop displaying “Radio Taxi”, as per government standards.

Note that last month Ola and Uber had suspended surge pricing in Delhi following a government warning that it would take strict action, including impound cabs and cancellation of permits, against those who would flout government rules. Seperately, the Karnataka government has already impounded some Ola and Uber vehicles for charging their users over the government decided rate of Rs 19.5/km, after banning surge pricing in the state. The Maharashtra government had also released a draft policy last year, capping surge pricing and the number of cars on each platform in Mumbai.

The same month, hyperlocal delivery and auto rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo suspended its surge pricing in Delhi from 22-30 April “grudgingly, bowing down to government policies.” It’s not clear if the company currently charges any surge pricing. It’s worth noting that, Delhi’s CM Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted that surge pricing would not be allowed even after the second odd-even project (15-30 April) was complete.

Surge pricing is daylight robbery. No responsible govt can allow that(1/2)
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 20, 2016

Petition against surge pricing: In April, Rakesh Agarwal, CEO of Magic Sewa, an online aggregator of cabs in Delhi-NCR, told MediaNama in a phone conversation that he had filed a petition against app based cab aggregators which were violating the Section 67 of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), 1988, by implementing surge pricing.

Halt in bike taxi service: Yesterday, Uber said that it had “paused” its UberMOTO bike taxi service in Bangalore. In its statement, the company says that it will to share the findings of the pilot, which was launched in Bangalore in March this year. Note that, UberMOTO remains operations in Gurgaon, where it was launched towards the end of March. Uber had called this a pilot as well, which was launched in agreement with the memorandum of understanding it signed with the Haryana government to introduce ridesharing services in the state in the same month.