Bhubaneswar: Odisha government has issued a set of guidelines to regulate the hail-riding companies operating in the state with maximum emphasis on the safety of passengers, especially women.
According to a notification from the Commerce and Transport Department, the taxi services that clients can book online through their websites, apps, or phone calls would be subject to the Odisha On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Guidelines 2023. The laws will apply to companies that provide taxi services, including Ola, Uber, Rapido, and others.
The government has made it mandatory for these companies to obtain licence for providing the services by paying a minimum fee of Rs 50,000. The cab firms having less than 1,000 vehicles will be charged fee of Rs 1 lakh and those having more than 1,000 cabs will pay Rs 2.5 lakh. The licence, which will remain valid for 5 years, can be renewed by paying Rs 25,000. All the facts about the drivers will be displayed in every cab and two-wheelers running under the aggregator. Moreover ‘TAXI’ will be written on yellow boards on every car and bikes.
Stating that the guidelines aim at ensuring the safety and security of the passengers and cab drivers, the department stated that the drivers and owners of the vehicles should not be convicted in any drunk and drive case for at least 7 years.
They shouldn’t also be found guilty in cases involving fraud, sexual exploitation, and acts of violence. They shouldn’t have any judicial cases ongoing against them. They should have a two-year driver’s licence and proof of residence in Odisha.
STA Joint Commissioner Dipti Ranjan Patra said that the guidelines have been notified keeping in view the security of the passengers.
“The grievance redressal method of passengers and the kind of drivers who are running the vehicles have been clearly mentioned in the guidelines. The safety and security of the passengers have been given top priority. Keeping all these things in mind, Odisha has notified the guidelines as the sixth state in the country,” said Patra.
