Over 30 Uber, Ola cabs seized in Bengaluru over surge pricing crackdown
An April 6 Karnataka government order banned surge pricing in the state.
In a bid to crackdown on surge pricing of taxi services by San Francisco-based Uber and Bengaluru-based Ola, over 30 taxis have been seized in Bengaluru, a report in LiveMint said.
The move comes after surge pricing or charging over and above the pre-described rate during peak hours, was banned by the Karnataka government on April 6.
Since then, the government has set a per-kilometre price bracket for AC and non-AC cabs has been set, the report said.
A city transport official quoted in the report says that Uber and its Indian competitor had their cars seized for overcharging customers.
Bengaluru-based commissioner of transport and road safety Rame Gowda said that more than 30 Uber and Ola vehicles were seized and operations against the two competitors were continuing in a crackdown on taxi services that overprice their services during peak traffic hours.
Gowda was quoted saying that surge pricing was now not in the rules, and both, Uber and Ola have to follow the rule of the land. "They cannot violate them and harass the public," he was quoted in the report as saying.
He also said that commuters and users of these services were welcome to file complaints if they were subjected to surge pricing.