HC reprimands Ola for violating ban, declines interim relief

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on October 5

Admonishing app-based cab service Ola for not complying with the ban imposed on it by the city government, the court here on Wednesday refused to grant it any interim relief and directed “strict” enforcement of the order which had been “violated with impunity”.

Judge Manmohan directed the Delhi government and traffic police to “strictly enforce” their order of January 1, by which the operation of app-based cab services was banned till they complied with the guidelines of the Radio Taxi Scheme of 2006, which was amended on December 26 last year.

The court passed the interim order while issuing notices to the Centre, traffic police and Delhi government, seeking their response to Ola’s plea for lifting of the ban.

The court said the matter had to be heard extensively and listed the matter for further hearing on October 5.

The court refused to provide any relief to Ola, the brand name of ANI Technologies, saying its plea challenging the ban order was not only “inordinately delayed” by six months, but during the period had violated the ban with “impunity”.

“The court is of the prima facie view that the petitioner thinks its vehicles don’t ply on the road but fly in the air. This court is of the view that a ban has to be complied with till it is stayed or set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction,” judge Manmohan said.

He refused to lift the ban also on the ground that “since Delhi is regarded as one of the most polluted cities of the world and quality of diesel supplied has been adversely commented upon by the Supreme Court at various times, this court feels it should err on the side of caution and not lift the ban till it is convinced there is no ban on plying of All India Tourist Permit (AITP) taxis in the national capital”.

Ola uses taxis having AITP for providing services in the national capital.

The court also sought an affidavit from Ola that it "will explicitly comply with orders of the court" and observed that the company has taken "an extreme stand" that "it will neither apply under the Radio Taxi Scheme nor abide by any condition including the one suggested during hearing".