Delhi government's ‘City Taxi Scheme’ grants respite to taxi app aggregators

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The Aam Aadmi Party government has come up with a new programme that could end the woes of the radio taxi operators or the mobile app-based taxi aggregators. The Delhi government has introduced a new 'City Taxi Scheme' under which mobile app-based taxi aggregators such as Ola, Uber can register themselves legally for continuing operations in the national capital.

The Kejriwal government claims that this new scheme is an improvement over its previous proposal and that the rules have been finetuned and improved upon for all taxi service providers. Transport Minister Gopal Rai announced the scheme and stated that all taxis would come under a single scheme, except the 'black and yellow' taxis and those operating long distances under the All India Tourist Permit (AITP). 

The new scheme will include small cars such as Reva and Nano for last-mile connectivity outside metro stations as riding in smaller taxis with engines between 600cc and 749cc, would mean a fare of Rs 10 per km will be applicable.

Under the scheme, only 2,500 taxis per operator would be allowed to ply on the Delhi roads. Panic buttons and hooters inside the vehicles will be made mandatory. The operators will also need to follow a government-decided fare structure.

The government’s move to cap the number of taxis per operator is to ensure that a single operator does not have a monopoly in the market. Companies who wish to operate more than 2,500 vehicles can apply under this scheme by creating new subsidiaries. However, AITP vehicles will not be allowed under this scheme as these are for tourist purposes only and not city transportation.

In December last year, the state’s transport department and modified the radio taxi scheme's rules to bring app-based aggregators under a legal framework. However, they were quickly rejected by the app companies who did not register themselves.