Maharashtra BJP MLC Pravin Darekar announced the launch of 'Devabhau' and 'Chhava' cooperative taxi services in Mumbai, aiming to counter private aggregators and benefit drivers directly, but the scheme has drawn sharp criticism from social activist Anjali Damania and the Opposition Congress over the proposed use of Mumbai Bank funds and its political branding.
The Maharashtra government has revoked provisional licences issued to motorbike aggregators like Rapido, Ola, and Uber due to non-compliance with the Maharashtra E-bike Taxi Rules 2024, including the mandatory use of electric vehicles and submission of required documents.
Maharashtra plans new policy to make domicile certificate mandatory for driving licence from August 2026, alongside efforts to regulate bike taxi services for revenue and job creation.
The union alleges financial hardship due to the state government's authorization of panic button device providers.
A major gas pipeline damage has disrupted CNG supply in Mumbai, leading to long queues at refuelling stations and affecting autorickshaws, taxis, and other CNG-run vehicles. The disruption is expected to impact transport availability throughout the day.
Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik faces criticism after Rapido, the bike taxi aggregator he exposed for illegal operations, became the lead sponsor for a 'Dahi Handi' event organized by his family.
The police have detained seven persons on charges of rioting following the incident.
The safety net for passengers is focused solely on the terms and conditions for the radio taxi scheme issued by the transport department.
Taxi and autorickshaw drivers under Jai Bhagwan Taxi Rickshaw Sanghatana have announced they would go on indefinite strike from August 29 in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.
Following an assurance from the state government that their grievances would be looked into, the strike -- which was to begin on Tuesday -- has been pushed back.
Commuters in Mumbai faced a harrowing time as auto-rickshaws and taxis drivers attached with 'Swabhiman Union' began a day-long strike in the metro city on Monday morning to press for their demands.
Ola and Uber have committed to spending Rs 15,000 cr to win the taxi market.
Uber recorded approximately 200 per cent year-on-year growth in its pre-scheduled ride option, Uber Reserve.
'Unless we consistently show up with the right cars, at the right time, priced fairly, we risk becoming irrelevant very quickly.'
Nearly one lakh autorickshaws went off the roads in Mumbai on Wednesday during a day-long strike to press for regulation of app-based cab sevices, hitting commuters hard with many stranded in several places across the metropolis.
The day-long statewide strike called by the Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen's Union, the largest auto union in the city, began from midnight demanding ouster of call centre-operated Uber and Ola cabs besides revocation of Maharashtra government's decision to scrap the Hakim panel on auto and taxi fares.
Uber said it is conducting a full audit of its verification, rider feedback and support processes apart from assessing its driver screening processes, Ola is getting GPS installed in all its partner taxis.
Ride-hailing firms claim penetration is still low and there is a huge upside to grow the market and make owning a car pass.
65% of respondents find surge pricing by aggregators burdensome.
Rediff readers share their experience about taxis and autorickshaws in India.
State transport commissioner Shyam Wardhane has issued directives allowing private cars, buses and other vehicles to operate as "public transport" on Monday
Uber says it is engaging with state govt to explain why its business model encourages savings for customers.
Two IIT-B grads cracked the cab aggregator code, tasted success & failure.
Ironically, amid these struggles, interest in these taxi services has grown, as concerns over women's safety have escalated.
Uber has received support from 118,000 riders to its online petition against some of the rules.
About 1,000 such cabs have been registered on the company's platform so far
Tariff cap offers Ola relief in battle with Uber. Though it might hurt their earnings, Ola believes the Karnataka High Court's judgement levels the playing field with Uber.
Over 1,600 taxis now have these devices installed.
'You need to have enough funds to maintain the primacy of public transport and it should not suffer because of lack of funds.'
Silicon Valley-based billionaire and prominent venture capitalist Vinod Khosla on Friday condemned government's decision to ban internet-based taxi aggregator Uber following the alleged rape incident in Delhi recently.
A 2014 study had ranked IITs as fourth among the top 50 universities globally, whose graduates were entrepreneurial.
The HC, though, refrained from prohibiting such cabs from plying in the meanwhile saying it was aware such a move would adversely affect commuters.
The San Francisco-based giant has acquired a Delhi-based company.
App-based taxi aggregator Ola is in talks to raise fresh funding of up to $400 million.
Currently the average expected time of arrival for Ola vehicles is five minutes.
A 20-minute chopper ride over Delhi, followed by lunch comes for Rs 5,000.
India has 160 million smartphone users.
The strike is expected to be observed in key cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune among other cities.
The strike has been called by the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahtuk Sena, the transport wing of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which claims that several drivers of these cabs are not able to cover costs due to the falling business.
