PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Acting on the numerous complaints, the Transport department inspected the Rapido Office in Dehradun on Friday and issued directives regarding violations identified during the inspection. The inspection was conducted by a team led by the regional transport officer (Administration), Sandeep Saini.
Saini said that there have been ongoing complaints about Rapido enrolling private two-wheelers in its aggregator app, which directly violates the Motor Vehicles Act and aggregator license requirements. He emphasised that passenger safety is being compromised and the government is suffering revenue losses. He said that the department lacks verification details.
“It is evident that, despite being aware of the legal provisions, the Rapido Company has kept the option to enroll private two-wheelers open in its app,” Saini stated. He added that complaints have also been received about instances where a vehicle was booked by one person, payments were accepted, but the vehicle was delivered to someone else. The company has failed to share its pricing calculation system with the app, which is mandatory under the licensing conditions, and has not provided details about the number of vehicles registered in the app, he said.
During the inspection, it was discovered that Rapido had moved its head office from Canal Road to Ring Road, Haridwar, without prior notice. The aggregator license issued by the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate (STA) was not found at the specified address; instead, the company was operating out of an old restaurant on Ring Road.
In light of these findings, the firm has been directed to submit detailed information about its algorithm, a Grievance Redressal Mechanism and complete details of all complaints received in the last three months.
Additionally, the Transport department was supposed to receive two per cent of revenue per ride for the State government, which has not yet been paid, he added.
He further informed that the assistant manager and operations manager of the Rapido company were present during the inspection. Considering all these, a recommendation has been made to suspend the aggregator license issued by the STA to Rapido. The company is also being directed to ensure that all private vehicles are deactivated from their app; otherwise, legal action will be taken against Rapido under the relevant sections for misleading vehicle owners and the public, Saini concluded.
