Chandigarh: Chandigarh has effectively pulled the plug on its four major app-based ride-hailing platforms, potentially landing commuters in trouble. The State Transport Authority (STA) on Tuesday suspended the aggregator licences of Uber and Rapido for six months with immediate effect over continued violations of the Chandigarh Administration Motor Vehicles Aggregators Rules, 2025.The move follows identical six-month suspensions of Ola, operated by ANI Technologies, and inDrive, run by Indsystems IT, earlier this year. With Uber and Rapido now suspended as well, commuters are left without any of the four major aggregators that had been licensed to operate in the city.The STA said the action was taken after the companies failed to rectify deficiencies despite being repeatedly given opportunities to do so. Show-cause notices had been issued to all four aggregators after inspections of their local offices.More than 25,000 aggregator cabs operate in the Chandigarh Tricity. Most are registered in Punjab and Haryana, though they ply across the Tricity.With the licences suspended, cabs of these aggregators, regardless of where they are registered in the Tricity, will not be allowed to ply in Chandigarh. If found operating, violators will be fined.What put aggregators in the dockThe regulatory action dates back more than a year, when cab drivers approached the STA with complaints about inadequate health and term insurance, gaps in driver training and fare practices allegedly at variance with rates notified by the administration.In July 2025, the STA sought formal compliance reports and issued a reminder the following month. The responses received were found to be inconsistent with the rules.A committee constituted in August inspected the companies’ Chandigarh offices in September and found that prescribed requirements had still not been met. Show-cause notices followed in October, but two replies submitted later that month were also found deficient.At meetings chaired by STA secretary Nitish Singla in January and May 2026, the aggregators were again directed to comply with insurance norms, driver-training requirements and the fare structure notified in July 2025. They were given 15 days to submit compliance reports, but the authority said no replies were received.Subsequent inspections of the local addresses provided by the companies in May found the offices closed or locked. A compliance report submitted in July, accompanied by photographs and other documents, was examined by the STA and found deficient on several counts, including adherence to the notified fare structure.The STA’s scrutiny also focused on the subscription and prepaid-recharge models used by the platforms.The Tricity Cab Drivers Welfare Association, in a complaint received in September, alleged that drivers were being pushed to purchase subscriptions or make prepaid recharges. The association also submitted fare records which, according to the STA, indicated the use of such models and instances of overcharging.Insurance was another major sticking point. One company claimed that bike-taxi captains received automatic cover that remained valid for the duration of each ride. The STA found the cover was restricted to accidental death and injury and therefore inadequate under Chandigarh’s rules.The authority also found non-commercial vehicles included in lists of vehicles attached to the platforms. Such vehicles are not permitted to operate under aggregator licences in Chandigarh.Commuters caught in the crossfireFor commuters, the immediate concern is whether traditional taxis and autos can absorb demand from passengers who routinely use app-based rides for airport and railway transfers, office commutes and late-night travel.Anil Mahajan, a Panchkula resident who commutes to Chandigarh daily, said he was heavily dependent on app-based cabs. “I am totally dependent on these cabs. I don’t even have my own vehicle. Now only Bharat Taxi is left. I doubt if it will be able to manage commuter pressure,” he said.Many companies also rope in aggregators for employee transport.Drivers associated with the suspended platforms are also staring at fewer bookings and uncertain earnings for the next six months.Can Chandigarh enforce the suspension?STA secretary Nitish Singla said the aggregators had been given sufficient opportunity to comply before the suspension orders were issued. Responding to concerns over commuter inconvenience, he said significant disruption was not expected because “cab drivers use multiple aggregator apps at a time. They can always shift to another aggregator if one is not working.”Drivers, however, questioned whether the suspension would actually translate into a halt in operations on city roads.Vikram Singh Pundir, president of the Tricity Cab Drivers Welfare Association Chandigarh, said drivers would undoubtedly suffer but maintained that the aggregators had been “blatantly violating the regulations”.He also highlighted the administration’s enforcement challenge, pointing out that aggregators suspended earlier could still be seen operating on city roads.Till the filing of this report, commuters could still book cabs through the aggregator apps.
