Kolkata, Nov. 11 -- The Bengal government has prohibited On Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators (ODTTAs) from engaging non-transport category vehicles for commercial services through their platforms in violation of statutory provisions and prescribed guidelines, a move that is expected to affect privately registered motorcycles operating as App-based bike taxis.
In a notification, the Transport department directed all aggregators operating in the state not to onboard, register, facilitate or permit non-transport category vehicles to operate through their platforms in contravention of applicable laws and guidelines.
The directive also requires aggregators to identify all such vehicles already onboarded or engaged
through their platforms and disengage them within the stipulated timeline. They must ensure that no such vehicle is allowed to provide services through their platforms after the expiry of the stipulated period.
The move is expected to affect App-based bike taxi services in Kolkata, where privately registered motorcycles are widely used to ferry passengers.
Commercially operated vehicles are required to be registered under the transport category and carry yellow number plates.
The government noted that a substantial number of vehicles registered under the non-transport category were being operated through aggregator platforms.
It observed that such commercial use without compliance with applicable statutory provisions and regulatory requirements could lead to the evasion of taxes, fees and other statutory dues, resulting in potential revenue loss to the state exchequer.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.