Karnataka High Court allows Ola, Uber, and Rapido to continue offering auto services

After ordering the Karnataka government to negotiate auto fares with Uber and Ola, the Karnataka High Court (HC) on Friday (October 14) allowed the app-based auto aggregators to continue operations until the state government fixed fares in accordance with relevant law.

The interim order is a significant relief for online ride-hailing platforms such as Ola, Uber, and Rapido, which were declared illegal by the Karnataka government last week. In addition to the 5% GST, the Karnataka High Court has allowed companies to charge 10% of the base fare as a convenience fee, as opposed to the previous flat rate of INR 40 per ride: Report. The court has given the state government, regulators, and cab aggregators 15 days to develop a fair pricing mechanism.