Digital Taxis to be rolled out in J&K

Jammu, November 20: Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam on Friday chaired a meeting to review the preparations to roll out plying of digital taxi services in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Administrative Secretaries of the departments of Housing & Urban Development, and Transport, Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir, Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar and Jammu, and RTO, Jammu participated in the meeting.

The Transport Department informed that any company registered under the Companies’ Act or a firm registered under the Partnership Act can apply for a license. The Department will, however, give preference to a registered company/firm of IT professionals from Jammu and Kashmir.

As per the notified rules, the applicants are required to be in operation for at least three years, have valid GST and PAN besides a fleet of at least 50 taxies/autos, a developed MIS system or 24X7 control room or web- portal/mobile app for operation along with audited financial statements, and a registered office in the area of operation.

The license granted under these rules shall be valid for a period of five years and is subject to be suspended/cancelled by the licensing authority if the licensee fails to comply with any prescribed terms/conditions or any complaint against the licensee by any passenger has been proved.

Further, the Rules provide that the fare charged by these digital cabs shall not be more than as notified by the Government and the licensee shall display the fare rate along with a fare rate estimator on the website/ internet-enabled app which will connect the licensee with drivers and passengers.