Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2017 for Web Based taxis

Chandigarh, 6th April 2017: Chandigarh Administration has notified on-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2017 for Web Based taxis in the U.T., Chandigarh. 

1. Eligibility Conditions For obtaining  Licence –

(i)  The applicant must be a registered entity under the laws of India. 

(ii) The applicant shall comply with all applicable rules and regulations prescribed under the Act and also the Information Technology Act, 2000, including the intermediary guidelines. 

iii) The applicant shall not own or lease any vehicle, employ any driver or represent himself as a taxi service provider, unless also registered as a taxi operator under the applicable law. 

iv) The applicant/operator must have published a policy on matters related to taxi fare, registration of taxis and drivers with its platforms/application, sharing of fares between taxi owners and drivers; agreement thereof, safety of passengers, grievance redressal mechanism for passengers etc which shall be followed meticulously and transparently.

v) The applicant/operator must have a 24x7 call centre.

vi) The operator may brand the vehicles.

vii) The applicant must have a fleet of minimum 100 taxis either owned / lease or through an agreement with individual taxi permit holders.

viii) The applicant must have facilities for monitoring the movement of taxis with the help of GPS, GPRS or similar technologies alongwith a control room facility.

2. Requirements in respect of Vehicle - 

Every taxi, for the purpose of inclusion in a licence, shall 

1) Only Contract Carriage Permit vehicles bearing Registration Number of Chandigarh be pressed into Web Taxi Service.  However, the vehicles registered with the State of Punjab & Haryana carrying “All India Tourist Permit” can also be used for this service in the Union Territory of Chandigarh by paying entry fee @ Rs.1000/- per quarter or as decided by the Transport Department, Chandigarh Administration, from time to time. The vehicles registered in other States but operating in Chandigarh U.T. shall have to follow the traffic rules, emission norm, fuel type or other statutory provision as mandated by the Chandigarh Administration from time to time.

ii) have a display board inside the Taxi containing vehicle permit and the driver’s details such as photograph, name, Driving Licence No. and ID card issued by the STA/Police authorities.  The display board shall be clearly visible to the passengers in the Taxi.

iii) fitted with a yellow coloured display board with words “Taxi” visible both from the front and the rear.  The board shall be capable of being illuminated during the night hours. The design and display format shall be got approved from State Transport Authority, U.T., Chandigarh.

4) not be older than 5 years from date of its manufacture.

5) be able to run on CNG fuel or is converted to CNG fuel type by retro-fitting within one year of roll-out of CNG in Chandigarh. 

3. Driver’s qualifications -  The  Driver of a Taxi shall have the following qualifications;

i) The driver must bear AADHAR Card number and shall share this with licencee for maintaining it in database. 

ii) The Licencee shall employ/register the driver after due police verification by the concerned State Police only. The licencee has to share all the details regarding driver / Police Verification / Training with State Transport Authority through its web portal as prescribed. 

iii) The maximum cap on duty hours of the drivers shall be as per law in vougue in territorial jurisdiction of Chandigarh. 

4. Hire Charges – 

(i) On behalf of the owner of the vehicle, the driver or the aggregator may collect hire charges from the passengers as per the fare indication method stated in clause (v) of rule 6of these rules.

ii) In any case, the fare including any other charges, if any, shall not be higher than the maximum fare fixed by the Chandigarh Administration from time to time.

iii) The licencee shall publish a fare policy and attach a copy alongwith application form. No change in fare policy shall be made without 30 days advance notice to State Transport Authority, U.T. Chandigarh, with a copy of amended draft.  Such advance notice shall be made on website also for public information

5) General Conditions To Be Adhered By The Licensee 

I)  For Administrative purposes, the Licensee must

 a) maintain records, in digital form of all the taxis at his control, indicating on a day to day basis, the trips operated by each vehicle, details of passengers who travelled in the vehicle, origin and destination of the journey and the fare collected for a minimum period of two years.  The record so maintained shall be open for inspection by an officer nominated by the licensing authority at any time.

b) establish a driver training programme for drivers whose on-demand transportation technology platform (‘drivers’) prior to the driver being able to use the platform.  The driver training ​programme must include familiarisation of drivers with the law applicable to mechanically propelled vehicles, road safety, Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 and a gender sensitisation programme. A refresher training must be organised for drivers once in every two years. 

II) In order to promote passenger safety, the Licencee must:

a) ensure that the on demand technology transportation aggregators web or   mobile   application   connects drivers to riders displays for the passengers,   a clear picture of the driver and a picture or description (including license plate number) of the vehicle and such other details that allows the rider   to verity that the driver of the vehicle is person ​whose details the rider has received via the on-demand technology transportation aggregator.​

b) develop and include a feature in the mobile application that provides riders, the ability to share their location with a minimum 2 numbers persons within their safety network.  

c) arrange for an insurance policy to cover cashless treatment of occupants (including driver) of taxi (attached with aggregator) in case such a vehicle gets involved in an accident. 

III) The State Transport Authority U.T. Chandigarh may notify the maximum fares to be charged according to the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act to provide a level playing field with taxi service providers and licencee shall frame its fare policy in accordance with it.

IV) ​It shall be desirable for the licencee to get the CCTV installed in the vehicles which should be linked with Control Room established by licencee and to also maintain such data for atleast one month.  

V) The Web – aggregator shall have to allow access to their fare collection system in case of introduction of any kind of Common Mobility Cards in Chandigarh which shall be usable on all transport modes.