Commuters angry over govt’s inability to take action against auto aggregators apps

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

Auto aggregators continue to operate in the city despite a ban by the transport department. Ola, Uber and Rapido, the three auto-rickshaw aggregators, are continuing to provide their service, which has prompted the state transport authority to file a caveat in the high court. However, many passengers have complained of a shortage of autos that can be booked through the apps.

The number of autos logging into Ola, Uber and Rapido seems to have come down as the waiting time in certain places has risen to 12-15 minutes from the usual 5-7 minutes. Commuters are frustrated with auto drivers not associated with any aggregators making use of the opportunity to make a few extra bucks. “I had to pay Rs 200 to travel from Ejipura to Koramangala, which is only two kilometres away. I would often use the price on the applications as a standard to negotiate with normal auto drivers. The price, according to the set government fare, only comes up to about Rs 80,” said an angry commuter.

Along with the ever-rising fares, commuters are also angry about unclear regulations and the government’s inability to take action against the aggregators. State Transport Commissioner THM Kumar had said that the aggregators will not be able to operate until the present rules were modified and also had warned of imposing a fine of Rs 5000 per vehicle on them if they continued to operate the autos illegally.

In a statement on Wednesday, Uber said, “It stands ready to work with the government to ensure that the benefits of e-hailing extend to the auto industry and particularly to the tens of thousands of drivers and several lakh riders who rely on aggregator apps such as ours,” without commenting on the ban by the transport authority. Ola and Rapido have not responded.