Here’s what Uber is doing to challenge the government’s guidelines

After guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road Transport appeared to impact the business of the US-based taxi-hailing firm Uber in India, the company has now decided to take help of social media and online petitions.

Known as the City Taxi Scheme 2015, Uber has launched this campaign against Maharashtra’s draft rules for cab services. The campaign also looks forward to officially communicate its views to the government on the proposed rules.

Shailesh Sawlani, Uber's general manager for Mumbai, says, "We feel it is critical for the people of Maharashtra, who have for years suffered in silence with poor quality transportation, to stand up against these regressive regulations and make their voices heard."

Ola, on the other hand, prefers to directly get in touch with the government officials to resolve stalemates, according to some reports. Earlier, Ola had stated that "We work with authorities at all levels, be it central and state to resolve issues.”

Uber, in the past as well, has taken help of online platform to fix issues with the government. In a similar move, Uber launched a campaign in January this year after the Delhi government banned its services following an alleged rape of a passenger by one of its driver partners.

The company ran a campaign on social networking platform twitter with hash-tag #BringBackUber. Moreover, it also launched online petitions that received nearly 8,000 applications. The case, however, is now in court.

Up until now, the petition in Mumbai has received around 24,000 online signatures.

According to the draft rule issued by the Department of Home under Maharashtra government, a cab service licensee should have a fleet of 1,000 taxis to 4,000 taxis. Additionally, fare charged by the cabbies would be prescribed by the state transport authority.

The conditions are not acceptable to Uber along with a proposal that asks its taxi drivers to maintain a feedback register and receipt printers.

Sawlani also added that “The proposed scheme is a clampdown on consumer choice and freedom. It is equally important for commuters to let the government know that this scheme does not have smart solutions nor their interests at heart.”

Turning down such online campaigns, a Delhi-based lobbyist for transport firms says, "The online petition in Delhi was not very effective mainly because of the timing, as it was done after the rape case. And second, there was a petition to change an existing law, unlike in Mumbai where comments are invited. Cab companies should work with authorities. It is not possible to settle all issues through the judiciary."