LAHORE: It seems that the ban on the mobile-application taxi service providers did not go well with the members of the Punjab Assembly, who utilised the platform to raise voice against the government’s act.
During the provincial Assembly’s session today, the house resonated with MPAs disagreement regarding the ban on Careem, Uber and A-One. Interestingly, some government lawmakers seemed unbeknownst to the crackdown, with some nodding in agreement to the opposition's stance.
“These taxi services were in favour of a common man,” said PTI MPA Dr Murad Raas.
Dr Murad Raas said this step was taken to benefit ‘a taxi service from Turkey’.
Another PTI MPA, Mian Aslam Iqbal said that the services were banned due to ‘lack of commission’.
During the session, the opposition MPAs announced their intent to bring a resolution in the Assembly against the ban on these private taxi services.
In the defence of the ban, PML-N lawmaker Zakia Shahnawaz said that the taxi services companies might be falling short of the legal formalities.
ThePunjab government on Monday had declared the services of Careem and Uber 'illegal'. The Sindh government, following suit, also sought legal action against these companies on Tuesday.
Anotification issued by the Punjab Transport Authority stated: "It has been observed with grave concern that some companies including Careem, Uber, A-One etc are offering cab services through mobile network technology without registering the private cars with any regulatory body and without obtaining fitness certificate/route permits of these cars, causing great loss to the Govt."
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.