Now, it's Karnataka's turn to ban Uber

K'taka transport authority asks taxi aggregators to procure operator permits

Karnataka is the latest to join the list of state governments which have banned US-based taxi service provider Uber.

The action follows the alleged rape of a woman in Delhi by one of its drivers.

The failure of Uber authorities to register the cab-service with the state government is cited as the reason for the ban. This will be a major blow to Uber, since it had started its India services from Bengaluru.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday announced in Parliament that he had advised all states and Union territories to ban unlicensed cab services. Uber, as well as other web-based taxi aggregators such as OlaCabs and TaxiForSure were banned from operating in the national capital on Monday.

Following this, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments had banned the services of Uber on Wednesday.

Post the Centre's diktat, almost all states swung into action. The Karnataka transport authority asked taxi aggregators to procure operator permits and instructed them to ensure their drivers were verified by the police by the end of the month. 

Chandigarh declared only three radio taxi operators as authorised - Mega Cabs, RBTS and Fab Cabs. Mumbai ordered all 28 private cab operators in that city to provide data on their drivers. In Mumbai and Jaipur, background checks would be carried out for drivers of regular black-and-yellow taxis, too, the police said.

Uber, backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs, Google Ventures, Menlo, First Round, Lowercase Capital and Benchmark, found support from many quarters, with many arguing the company should not be punished for the act of an individual. Five-year-old Uber, which operates across 200 cities worldwide, is seen as a promising venture for its investment and employment-generation potential.

Beyond India, the US city of Portland sued Uber on Monday to stop it from operating in Oregon city until it followed local regulations. Thailand's department of land transport on Tuesday said Uber was operating illegally in the country and ordered it to halt its services immediately.