Uber, Ola act on SC directive, apply for aggregator licence in Maharashtra

Ride-hailing service providers Ola and Uber have applied to the Maharashtra government for aggregator licences, a Regional Transport Office (RTO) official said here on Friday.

Sets of guidelines brought out by the Centre and the Maharashtra government mandate such app-based companies to obtain a licence. Currently, the government cannot efficiently take action in case of violations by these operators and a licence could change that situation.

Acting on a directive of the Supreme Court, the ride-hailing service firms have applied for aggregator licences at Mumbai's Tardeo RTO, which has jurisdiction over the entire island city, the official said.

Bharat Kalaskar, regional transport officer from Tardeo RTO, told PTI that they received applications from Ola and Uber for aggregator licences 3-4 days ago.

The applications are under scrutiny and will be subsequently put up to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) for a final decision about granting the licence, he said.

Last month, the apex court had directed app-based taxi aggregators to apply for a licence by March 6 if they wanted to continue their operations in Maharashtra.

Though Ola did not respond to PTI's queries regarding the application, an Uber spokesperson confirmed submission at the RTO.

Uber has applied well within the deadline set by the apex court, said the spokesperson.