Uber launches in twin cities

Authorities allow service on the condition they meet legal requirements at later date

ISLAMABAD: Despite the fact that the matter on a similar service is pending in the high court, the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) on Thursday allowed Uber to launch its mobile application-based ride-hailing-service in the capital.

The move means that the administration has backtracked on its earlier stance that such companies, which do not fully conform to the motor vehicles laws governing commercial transportation sector, would not be allowed.



In January this year, the administration had launched a crackdown against ride-hailing companies such as Careem, Darbi and Citi Cab contending that these services were illegal since they violated the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965.

However, after Careem appealed against the crackdown before the Islamabad High Court, the latter restrained the capital’s administration from taking any action against the service. Interestingly, the authorities had at the time objected that the cars being used by such services were not regulated by any authority, nor were they paying the requisite taxes since these vehicles were registered as private cars despite the fact that they were being used for commercial purposes.

Regardless, the ICT Deputy Commissioner Mushtaq Ahmed and Transport Authority Secretary Syed Jawad Muzaffar met with a delegation from Uber and allowed them to operate in the capital. With the officials onboard, the ride-hailing service was officially launched in the twin cities.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Muzaffar confirmed that Uber had been allowed to launch its services in the capital.



However, he added that they were still working on finalising modalities about how to regulate such services.

When asked about the objections raised by the capital’s administration on similar services just a few months earlier, Muzaffar said the services had been allowed to operate provisionally, and eventually all such companies would have to meet the requirements listed for commercial vehicles under the ordinance.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2017.