India, Technology Friendly Guidelines for Ride-Hailing Platforms have Arrived

Uber arrived in India two years ago and was quickly embraced by riders and drivers, making the world’s largest democracy one of our most vibrant and fastest growing markets. Since our humble beginnings in Bangalore, we’ve quickly expanded to 22 cities in India today and continue to see robust 40% MoM growth in our quest to building an affordable and reliable urban mobility solution for 1.2 billion Indians.

Today, India is making history for the ride-hailing industry around the world. The Government of India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) issued an Advisory for Licensing, Compliance and Liability of On-demand Information Technology based Transportation platforms. These guidelines provide State Transport Departments with a progressive regulatory framework which embraces this innovative industry, protects consumer choice and promotes competition.

The regulations also provide for a safety and accountability framework that includes detailed driver identity and background verification, features within the app that enable riders to share their ride details with their friends and family and a means to contact the police in case of an emergency.

Speaking on this development, Amit Jain, President, Uber India said, “The guidelines are a significant step in the right direction. They rightfully distinguish between taxi operators and technology platforms, and lay down sector specific regulations for our industry. We applaud the MoRT&H for holding a stakeholder consultation to develop these guidelines and are pleased to have participated in this process.”

Uber welcomes the opportunity to work with the state governments to adopt reasonable regulatory provisions in the spirit of the central guidelines.

We thank the Honorable Union Minister of Transport Shri Nitin Gadkari, the Secretary Shri Vijay Chibber and the Joint Secretary Shri Sanjay Bandopadhyay MoRT&H for their leadership and support in embracing innovation and supporting consumer choice.

We hope this new regulatory framework paves the way for similar progress in markets around the world.