Transport dept raps Ola, govt joins hands for jobs

Mumbai: Two days after the transport department served a notice to Ola for its alleged illegal shuttle bus services in the city, the State government on Friday tied up with Ola under the Pramod Mahajan Kaushalya and Udhyojakta (PMKUVA) to provide self-employment training to around 5,000 youths.

On Wednesday, the transport commissioner’s office had sent a notice to the cab aggregator, seeking an explanation on the Ola bus shuttle-service. The officials said that in 2014 Ola and Uber had launched their servicewithout seeking any permission from the state government.

In a statement the State government has said that Ola has generated five-lakh jobs for the youth of the nation, who have began to work with the company and hope that the company will help in increasing micro-entrepreneurs in the state.

Officials from the transport department have said that this has come as a blow to their effort. An RTO officer said, “This is a slap on our face. We are trying to get them regulated, they have been running their services for the past three years without any monitoring and have been refusing to divulge their fare structure. Now, the government is in cahoots with them.”

The official added that once transport commissioner Praveen Geadam is back from training period, the subject will be broached with the CMO.  “He will be back in 10 days,” the officer said.