A day after the Punjab government declared the services of mobile-application taxi service providers Careem, Uber and A-One as illegal, the Sindh government on Tuesday also sought legal action against these companies.
The Sindh government has declared the use of private cars as taxis without the mandatory legal permits as “illegal” and has contacted PTA as it seeks to block Careem’s mobile app.
Secretary Transport said in a statement that he wrote five letters to Careem management as a warning but received no reply.
The provincial government has also initiated action against Uber to bring the app within ‘official compliance’.
According to the Secretary Transport, private cars would need to be made commercial in order to be used as taxis.
Owners of the cars would be required to obtain fitness certificates for the cars. Route permits would be needed before the cars can be used as taxis, he added.
In a notification issued by the Punjab Transport Authority earlier, it said that as the aforementioned companies are ‘illegally’ using private cars for services the provincial government is facing huge financial losses. The notification added that cars are being used as taxis without the mandatory car-fitness certificates and route permits.
The notification further mentioned that as security clearances of drivers are also not obtained from concerned authorities, orders have been issued for strict action against the aforementioned companies.
Moreover, in a crackdown earlier today, three car owners have been barred from riding.