Bengaluru, March 25: Days after imposing a ban on the Ola Cabs, the Karnataka State Transport Department finally revoked it on Sunday, but with a fine of Rs 15 lakh. The transport department had levied the penalty against Ola’s non-compliance of licence norms with respect to its bike taxi service plying in Bengaluru. On Sunday, the state’s social welfare minister Priyank Kharge informed about the recent development through a tweet.

Informing more about the lifting of a six-month ban – imposed on Friday – a senior official of the transport department said, as reported by the Financial Express, “We have imposed Rs 15 lakh penalty for this, and they (Ola) have agreed to pay.”  Ola Cabs Banned by Karnataka Govt; License Revoked For Six Months. 

Adding more, he said, “They should not repeat this type of violation. If they repeat it then necessary action will be taken against them.” The official added that the tenure of the ban can proceed if the violation is repeated by the premier transport carrier again.

Kharge had tweeted, “@Olacabs will run their business as usual from today. However there is an urgent need for policies to catch-up with new technologies & also industries too should work closer with Govt to help evolve policies for innovations.” The transport department claimed that Ola was issued the licence only to operate app-based cab service while the bike taxis were never permitted.

Here’s the Tweet:

Reacting on the decision of the state government, Ola in its statement said that they are glad that the issue stands resolved and regret any inconvenience caused to their driver-partners and passengers since Friday. It assured to continue working with the State and help address the challenges of mobility. However, it claimed that it had halted its bike taxi service much before the department imposed the ban.

It said, as the daily added, “Despite other companies continuing to operate illegally, Ola halted our bike taxi experiment weeks ago, instead seeking the state’s cooperation to develop a legal framework for a pilot that will continue to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the mobility economy.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2019 05:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).