The Government has constituted a Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to examine the issues related to taxis, aggregators and radio taxies etc. The members of the Committee are Joint Secretary (Transport), MoRTH, Transport Commissioner of Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana. The terms of reference of the committee is as under:-

i. To examine all the issues related to various permits under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

ii. To consult all the stakeholders i.e. black/yellow taxis, aggregators, radio taxis, etc.

iii. To formulate a credible and acceptable plan of action and frame draft scheme under the existing provisions of the MV Act, 1988.

iv. Any other matter that the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways may choose to request the Committee to examine and consider.

Two meetings of the committee have been held and the draft guidelines are under examination. After deliberations, the Committee will recommend the guidelines to states for regulating the taxi aggregators, taxis for facilitating citizens.

The Government appreciates that all types of transport solutions should be available to the citizens of the country and is in support of the use of technology to improve efficiency and citizen facilities in transport services. The taxis which are used should comply with the law of the land and rules laid by the State Governments. All the taxis have to comply with regard to fuel, tariff, verification of drivers, installation of GPS for driving and valid permit issued by Transport Department.

The Government shall not allow exploitation of commuters through surge pricing and feels that there should be cap on maximum fares. The pricing in luxury taxi segment can be determined by market forces. Government also wants to promote economic and environment friendly transport such as e-rickshaws and two wheelers for last mile connectivity. For Delhi Government a way will be found to allow existing taxis to ply. The Government will also promote the conversion of taxis into electric and hybrid so as to reduce vehicular pollution and is also in favour of liberalizing city taxi permit.

The Government will also promote rural transport. A separate scheme is being planned for this.

The Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari gave this information to the Parliament today in reply to a question.