Ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber have applied for aggregator licences from the Maharashtra government, according to a Regional Transport Office (RTO) official.

The move comes after the Indian government and Maharashtra state introduced guidelines mandating that app-based companies obtain a licence.

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Without a licence, the government cannot efficiently take action in the event of violations by these operators, but granting a licence would change this situation.

The ride-hailing firms have applied for the licences at Mumbai's Tardeo RTO, which has jurisdiction over the entire island city. The applications are currently under scrutiny and will subsequently be put up to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) for a final decision on whether to grant the licences.

Bharat Kalaskar, regional transport officer from Tardeo RTO, confirmed that they received the applications from Ola and Uber for aggregator licences around 3-4 days ago. Last month, the Supreme Court directed app-based taxi aggregators to apply for a licence by March 6 if they wanted to continue their operations in Maharashtra.

While Ola did not respond to queries regarding the application, an Uber spokesperson confirmed the submission to the RTO. The spokesperson said, “Uber has applied well within the deadline set by the apex court.”

This move to obtain a licence comes amid a regulatory crackdown on ride-hailing services in India. Last year, Uber and Ola were banned in the southern state of Karnataka for six months after they failed to obtain the necessary licences.

The move by Ola and Uber to obtain licences in Maharashtra may signal an effort to comply with regulations in order to continue operations in the region.

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(Edited by : Soham Shetty)