by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Dec. 8 |
Differences of opinion within the Modi government emerged today after the Delhi government banned the Uber Taxi service with immediate effect after the rape incident involving a 26-year-old woman.
Though the driver of the Taxi service was arrested and produced in court by the Delhi Police after solving the case within 24 hours, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh agreed with the proposal of Delhi government to ban the Uber Taxi service as it is "misleading customers" by offering them Taxis with All-India permits that cannot ply in Delhi from point-to-point ferrying customers. He even made a statement in the House today on the issue. It is learnt the Union Home Minister stepped in the picture after the Aam Admi Party led a demonstration outside his residence demanding immediate banning of Uber and firm action.
However, other Taxi service companies like Ola and Taxi-For-Sure who employ similar methodology as Uber to provide Taxis to customers through a mobile application, no ban has been imposed.
However, Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister M Venkiah Naidu while praising the alacrity with which the Police arrested the accused said the decision to ban the entire private taxi network on this ground seemed hasty.
Finance Minister Arun jaitley was also reported to be upset with the decision to impose a ban on Uber valued at $41 billion dollar and providing huge employment to people in the country by adopting a unique model.
Obviously, the Union Home Minister was more governed by the media pressure and political compulsions that the logic behind banning such service particularly when the accused driver was given character certificate by the Delhi Police itself.
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