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The government on Wednesday said the cooperative sector ride-hailing service Bharat Taxi will be expanded to all big cities and talukas in the next 2-3 years. In reply to questions on job creation by cooperative societies in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Cooperation Krishan Pal said Bharat Taxi was started to empower drivers and increase their income. "Its booking can be done easily through the mobile app. It has full guarantee of security and also provides complete transparency. It has been integrated with Delhi Police," Pal said. The minister said Bharat Taxi is operational in Delhi-NCR, Gujarat's Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Somnath, Dwarka. "In the next two or three years, we will take the service to all big cities and talukas. I would like to tell the House that up till now, 4 lakh drivers have been registered with it," Pal said. Last month, Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched Bharat Taxi, the country's first cooperative-run ride-hailing platform. Bharat Taxi platfo
Several app-based taxis and auto rickshaws went on a one-day strike across Maharashtra on Thursday to press for their demands, including fare hikes, a union said, though some users said they did not feel any inconvenience. Dr Keshav Nana Kshirsagar, president of Maharashtra Gig Kamgar Manch, the union that has been leading the strike, claimed that a large number of vehicles remained off the road due to the strike in cities like Mumbai, Nashik and Pune. The union has demanded fare rationalisation, bringing the rates on a par with those of the conventional black-and-yellow metered cabs, prohibition of bike taxis, and a cap on permits for black-and-yellow taxis and auto rickshaws. A welfare board for drivers of app-based cabs and enactment of a law for gig workers' are among the other demands of the union. Due to the strike, the Mumbai airport parking lot, which remains crowded with app-based taxis, was deserted on Thursday afternoon, said the union. Some passengers, however, claimed
The Maharashtra Gig Kamgar Manch on Saturday suspended the ongoing strike of drivers of app-based taxis in Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra for three days. Keshav Nana Kshirsagar, president of the association, told PTI that the strike, which started on Wednesday, was being suspended till next Tuesday to give time to the Maharashtra government to respond to their demands. "We have only suspended the strike, not called it off. If our demands are not accepted by Tuesday, services will be shut again," he said. At a meeting with the association's representatives, transport department officials sought time till Tuesday, said Kshirsagar. In the meantime, app-based cabs will charge the rate fixed by the government for the conventional black-and-yellow taxis and not the rate appearing in the apps of cab aggregators (such as Ola or Uber), he said. He also urged commuters and drivers to use www.onlymeter.in, a fare calculation website based on official government rates, to avoid ...
The Delhi High Court has directed the central government to apprise it about the regulatory mechanism for ensuring that taxi aggregators' applications are disabled-friendly prior to their launch. The court granted a last opportunity to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to file an affidavit on this aspect within four weeks. . failing which, the concerned Joint Secretary of the respondent no.2 (ministry) shall personally remain present in court, on the next date of hearing (August 13), Justice Sachin Datta said and listed the matter for further proceedings on March 19. Meanwhile, bike-taxi aggregator Rapido also assured the court that adequate steps will be taken to ensure that its application continues to be disabled-friendly. The submission came after the court was informed that as per the accessibility audit report, several accessibility issues were identified in the Rapido Android App'. The counsel for Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd -- which owns Rapido -