New Delhi: The Union government has issued new guidelines to regulate the ride-hailing apps, which includes Ola and Uber. They have been brought under the government regulation for making the aggregators responsible and accountable, and ensure safety to the customers.
The Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 were issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Friday.
The new framework has mandated a cap on surge price, which will further prevent the aggregators from charging more than 1.5 times of the base fare. The drivers under any aggregator company like Ola and Uber cannot log in more than 12 hours in a day. There should be at least a break of 10 hours after working for 12 hours.
The government has also fixed the penalty amount for cancelling a ride. 10 per cent of the fare will be charged for cancellation of the ride, either by the driver or the rider. However, penalty charges cannot exceed Rs 100.
The cab aggregator might get a suspension of their license on several grounds, which includes if it charges higher rates, fails to provide safety to the riders, and so on. The cab aggregator's license will be cancelled if it gets more than three suspensions in a financial year.
Good news for the drivers, as the new guidelines say that the drivers should at least receive 80% of the fare of every ride, and rest will go to the aggregator.
Pooling facilities can be provided by the aggregators to the riders whose KYC (Know Your Customer) details are available. Female passengers can avail the pool option only with other female passengers.