Uber gets a week to meet transport norms for operations in Delhi

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Taxi hailing company Uber Technologies has been given a week by Delhi Transport Department to remove deficiencies and modify application for a radio taxi licence to operate in the national capital. If the San Francisco startup is unable to meet the deadline, its application will be rejected, department officials said.

Rival Ola Cab's application is being examined and taxi aggregator NTL Taxi was allotted a radio taxi licence this week by the department.

"They (Uber) are yet to get back to us with any response. We have given them a deadline, failing which their applications would stand rejected," said a senior official at the Delhi Transport Department. He said regulations for taxi aggregators were tightened after formation of the new Arvind Kejriwal government.

A spokeswoman for Uber said the company will continue to work with the authorities. "We are evaluating the perceived deficiencies in the time period provided to us by the government," she said.

Transport department officials also said they would approach the Delhi High Court next week charging Uber with citing contempt of court, as the company has relaunched operations in the city despite not yet obtaining a licence.

Ola, also banned is the capital, also began services without a licence. "However, Ola has got back to the government by fulfilling deficiencies. Their radio taxi licence may be awarded shortly," an official said.

Uber, banned in Delhi twoand-half months ago after one of its drivers allegedly raped a woman, applied for licence on January 22 to operate its appbased service through a subsidiary, Resource Expert India Pvt Ltd, and resumed operations in the capital a day later.

People aware of the developments said Uber was reluctant to install meters in cabs, set up a call center and change its status to a transport provider, which may come with a lot of liability in case of an incident.

"Uber is yet to submit callcenter details, review and booking mechanism details and proof of address," said another person familiar with the developments. "While all other documents won't be hard to get, call-center certificate is a bottleneck since Uber doesn't have one," this person said.