HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Monday directed the state government to file its counter on a public interest litigation (PIL) which wanted the state to regulate cab aggregators like Uber, Ola, etc., to prevent them from fleecing customers in the name of surge prices during peak hours, rain and traffic blocks.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N Tukaramji was hearing the PIL, filed by Vijay Gopal of NGO Forum Against Corruption, who wanted the court to declare the manner of plying of these cabs as contrary to the Motor Vehicles Act.
Vijay Gopal’s counsel Deepak Misra said the Act allows only meter-based charges. However, the current method deployed by aggregator cabs was based on a GPS system, which was not recognised by the Act.
Don’t allow surge method: Petitioner
Officials should not allow the surge method, he said. They should introduce a regulatory mechanism to prevent the cab aggregators from resorting to exploitative methods, Misra said.
The petitioner also brought to the notice of the court the fact that the MV Act imposes restrictions on the number of hours a driver could work. Beyond six or eight hours he cannot work and he should get a reliever.
Otherwise, such a heavily tired driver would certainly doze off on the wheel, endangering the lives of both passengers and people on the roads. The cab aggregators have no such control over their drivers, Deepak Misra said.
The Union transport department has filed its counter conveying its stand, its counsel Namavarapu Rajeswara Rao said. The bench sought counters from the state transport, legal metrology and other wings also and posted the case to April 2022.
