Update: Few days after a state-wide ban, the ban on cab aggregator has been lifted. Ola can operate as usual in Karnataka.
Cab aggregator Ola has faced a ban in the state of Karnataka for a period of six months. During this period, the Karnataka government's transport department has suspended it from running cab operations. Ola has faced this ban as it has allegedly violated the bike taxi rules set by the government.
The Regional Transport Office has suspended the license granted to Ani Technologies Pvt Ltd, Ola's parent company. It is said that the company will not run the aggregator service for all vehicles including bikes, autos and cars for six months. The RTO of the state has issued the suspension order to Rapido too.
Back in February, the transport department of Karnataka wrote to Ola and Rapido to immediately stop the bike taxi services. Back then, Ola, Uber, TaxiForSure owners and Drivers Association had requested the transport department to consider the issue and take the appropriate action. It has been stated that Ola had been misusing the license even after repeated warnings. The bike taxis were not allowed in the state and it had to stop these services as soon as receiving the order.
Given that Ola's license has been suspended for six months in the state, the company has to submit the original copy of the license in three days of receiving a copy of the order issued by the transport department.
Ola's statement
After the ban order, Ola has revealed an official statement. Going by the same, the cab aggregator is evaluating all the available options to come up with an amicable solution. It stated that the service is closely working with the authorities regarding the same. It is said that though the other companies continue to operate legally, they halted their bike taxi experiment a few weeks back. It added that it had approached the cooperation of the state to develop a legal framework for this experiment.
This ban for a period of six months and the order to stop the bike taxi service will come as a blow to the company as it invested $100 million in Vogo, a domestic scooter sharing startup providng services in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.