Maharashtra government on Saturday chose to regulate the web-based taxi services in the state to ensure affordable travel for commuters. As per the newly drafted Maharashtra City Taxi Rules-2017, they will have to share equal responsibility for any untoward incident during a ride.
Big Blue Taxi Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail said a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation would be signed tomorrow involving 500 taxis under the GPST initially.
As a clear sign of conceding defeat to the growing popularity of Uber, Grab or e-hailing services, a director of a leading taxi firm stressed that cab companies have little choice but to respond to market demands by utilising the Uber app.
Taxi aggregators have time and again drawn flak for refusing to shoulder any liability in case of accidents/misdemeanours, claiming that it only allows taxi drivers and customers to connect with each other. They will run on clean fuel.
Transport Commissioner M K Aiyappa said the department has fixed a maximum fare of Rs 14.50 for small cars and Rs 19.50 for sedans.
In May previous year, Shamsubahrin even launched a taxi-hailing app, said to have been developed at a cost of RM700,000, to help taxi drivers boost their income after they suffered significant losses due to competition from Uber and Grab.
Therefore from the above news, we can conclude that taxi aggregates are giving a tough competition to the other cab drivers.
