India’s giant ride-hailing firm Ola will enter London’s ride-hailing market to compete Uber. (Image credit: Reuters)

India government to set rules for ride-hailing companies concerning passengers' safety and pricing

India government views the need to set regulations for taxi aggregator such as Ola and Uber as the number of ride-hailing providers and on-demand services are increasing. According to two people familiar with this matter, the rules will include passengers’ safety particularly female customers, and surge pricing.

Earlier on July 31, the Supreme Court has advised the government to take into consideration women passengers’ safety while using the ride-hailing services. The government also will ensure the safety of passengers when unexpected events during the ride happen such as accident, crime or another incident. The regulation will specify who will be responsible for the unforeseen incident, whether the driver or the ride-hailing company.

Regarding surge pricing - an increase of fare due to high demand or limited available vehicles, service providers said the surge pricing motivates drivers to go where the demand is.

The surge fares only happen when customers book taxis from the same area and overpass the number of vehicles available, claimed the Taxi-hailing firms.

In addition, the government will decide also the types of allowed vehicles to operate and regulate the vehicles’ ownership whether the driver or aggregator will own the vehicles.

India as one of the world’s biggest countries is participating in the global ride-hailing service market. India’s giant ride-hailing firm Ola will enter London’s ride-hailing market to compete the San-Francisco based ride-hailing company Uber. London’s transportation regulator on Thursday said, India’s ride-hailing company has been given a license to operate in the British capital.

Ola reportedly has recruited 10,000 drivers from several cities in the UK, such as Liverpool, Reading, and Bristol. As the first enter, the company will offer discounts for London’s passengers.

Source: https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/india-ride-hailing-148164/