HD Kumaraswamy-backed cab-aggregator Namma TYGR was recently introduced as a driver-friendly alternative to Ola and Uber, but has now landed in a licence soup.
Last week, two cabs featuring stickers of the company were impounded by the Jayanagar Regional Transport Office for running without an aggregator licence. Since then, operations have been stalled.
Tanveer Pasha, a former leader of the Ola/Uber drivers association and instrumental in the formation of Namma TYGR, told TNM that the move was politically motivated.
“Those two cabs were not even running on our platform at that time,” Pasha told TNM. It is a common practice amongst drivers to switch between apps.
“It seems the government is favouring Ola and Uber. The legality of aggregator licences is still sub-judice, and the Karnataka High Court has put a stay on the matter. This is the only reason why we have not got the licence as of now,” Pasha said.
“We have a legal team working on the issue, who will decide on our next course of action. We think even if we apply for a licence, the government would not grant it to us,” he said.
The Karnataka on-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators rules dictate that every company has to acquire a separate licence.
“I don’t know if Uber/Ola have a licence but even if they have, they violate so many guidelines. But, the government is not doing anything. Shared rides (Uber Pool and Ola Share) are illegal as per the Motor Vehicles Act. Still, no action is taken.This suggests that the action is totally political,” he added.
After a rape incident was reported in an Uber in Delhi, every cab driver needs to be certified by the police. The court guidelines say that every cab should have an SOS button, GPRS and other security features, he claimed.
“But the government is targeting us just because HD Kumaraswamy is helping us,” he told TNM.