The Delhi high court asked states on Wednesday to “view with an open mind” a draft policy to regulate app-based cab aggregators. The policy has been drafted by a panel appointed by the high court.
The court has given state governments, including Delhi’s, time till February 6 to study the new policy and present their objections, if any.
Justice Manmohan said that the framing of a policy “is a big step forward”. He added, however, that market forces should be allowed to operate, as even regulation could “bring in corruption” in the sector.
The panel’s suggestions were placed before the court by the Centre’s standing counsels Manish Mohan and Kirtiman Singh. The Centre told the HC that if the suggestions were acceptable to states, they would be asked to come up with their own schemes within the framework of the policy .
Hearing a batch of petitions filed by radio taxi operators against the Delhi government for allowing Ola and Uber to operate without any licence, the court had set up the panel to formulate a policy to regulate such companies.
The panel’s recommendations include a cap on minimum fare chargeable by aggregators.