Delhi HC gives no interim relief to Uber in licence case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant interim relief to San Francisco-based Uber on a petition filed by it challenging the Delhi government's decision to reject its application for a radio taxi licence.

"You are not supposed to ply if you do not have any licence," Justice Mukta Gupta said.

She also issued a notice to the Delhi government seeking its response on the matter by July 8.

The Delhi government last month rejected Uber's application for a radio taxi licence to operate in the Delhi-National Capital Region, citing its violation of a ban order issued by the state.

Uber approached the Delhi High Court last week on the pretext that its rivals Apra Cabs India Pvt Ltd, owned by Ola Cabs, and Serendipity Infolabs Pvt Ltd, which runs TaxiFor-Sure, were granted interim relief. The court had quashed Delhi government’s rejection of their licence application and asked it to give the companies a fresh hearing.

Backed by large investors such as Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs, Uber has hired senior counsel Siddharth Luthra for the case.

Luthra, who has also been a counsel for Facebook India in the past, argued that the case was similar to the two other companies, who were granted interim relief. The court will now hear the matter on July 8 and three other petitions pending in the matter against the online taxi aggregators, next week.