After the Karnataka Government cracked its whip on bike taxis, Uber Technologies has said finish to its UberMoto services. The service has been continuing for the last two months violating rules.
Uber India had rolled out the UberMoto service in Bangalore. The pilot project was a first of its kind in the country and was started in the IT city.
Uber’s competitor Ola has already withdrawn its OlaBike service in March, immediately after the State RTO department termed it illegal.
Meanwhile, Uber India has termed the stop as temporary and will share its learning with the government and collaborate to create modern regulations for app-based motorbike services.
The services have been launched in March this year and the RTO department had seized close to 100 two-wheelers operated by Uber. According to the transport department, since the two-wheelers are being used for commercial purposes, it must bear yellow boards.
The government has no provisions for granting permissions for the same.
Karnataka transport department is in close consultation with the legal department to find a viable solution to this impasse. At present, any two wheeler ride-sharing service is illegal and therefore the department has no other alternative but to seize vehicles and impose fines accordingly.
In response to this ban, the company spokesperson commented “Earlier this year we rolled out the pilot of uberMOTO in Bangalore – our first two-wheeled ridesharing service in India’s IT City. Today, we are pressing pause on the pilot while we share our learnings and work with the government to create modern regulations for app-based motorbike services.
The phenomenal response to uberMOTO makes us confident that the city and Bangaloreans will benefit from ridesharing services like uberMOTO in the near future.
By working together with the government we want to serve our cities and communities better – ensuring our ability to support last mile connectivity, providing affordable commute choices and reducing congestion as well as pollution overtime. We want to thank you for your extraordinary support.”
On the other hand, UberMoto drivers are unhappy with the latest move by the government. Two wheel drivers quip that they will now be unemployed due to the government high-handedness.
Drivers on the UberMoto payroll were paid Rs700 per day for a seven-hour shift; that is from 8 am-11 am and five pm-9 pm. Additionally, they were also paid Rs 2,000 upon completion of 40 rides per week.
UberMoto drivers have revealed that the company paid the fines which have been levied by the RTO department. The company also gave incentives if the vehicles were seized by the RTO department. More than 3000 vehicles were signed up by Uber for its rideshare services.
