India Needs Smarter Regulation for Ride-Hailing Platforms, Not App Store Bans

The Maharashtra cybercrime cellrsquos recommendation to Apple and Google to remove Uber Ola and Rapido from their app stores over alleged violations relating to bike taxis reveals a recurring feature of Indian governance the tendency to approach digital regulation through maximalist enforcement rather than calibrated institutional responses Legitimate regulatoryconcerns surrounding bike taxi operations in Maharashtra notwithstanding demanding the removal of entire applications from app stores effectively operates as a ban Maharashtra law enforcement must reconsider its actions given their wider ramificationsFirst ridehailing services have become central to urban life in India They are expected to serve nearly 38 crore users by 2029 One report estimates that theysave commuters more than 40 million hours annually through reduced travel and waiting times The same report found that 8437 of Indians surveyed believed that appbased ridehailing had improved the quality of transportation in the countrySecond commuter dependence on these services is heavily linked to speed safety and reliability One study finds that riders frequently rely on these platforms for airport travel hospital visits emergencies and latenight commutingFor women commuters in particular ridehailing services increasingly operate as substitutes for unreliable or unsafe public transport systems An Oxford Economics study conducted across five Indian metropolitan cities found that four in ten working women riders believed ridehailing enabled them to join the workforce by overcoming mobility barriers while half stated that these services were crucial in balancing work and family responsibilitiesThirdthey serve as a keysource of livelihood for millions ofpeopleThese applications primarily operate as systems for marketcoordination reducing search and transaction costs between drivers and riders at scale This means that for many gig workers these platforms are not supplementary conveniences but the infrastructure through which economic participation becomes possibleAccording to a report brought out by the ONDC Network Uber and Ola alonework with 35 million driversThis becomes especially important in the Indianlabourmarket where informal work fragmented demand and underemployment continue to define economic reality for large segments of the population Ridehailing platforms aggregate demand create discoverability and enable flexible participation in urban economies in ways that traditional transport systems often cannotThe ONDC Network report also indicates that new business modelsin ridehailing such as subscriptionasaservice where drivers pay the platform a subscription fee in lieu of a commission and decide and retain the entire fare for the ride are improving the fortunes of drivers drastically The same report indicates that thesubscription modelallows drivers to earn up to INR 136500 more annuallyThis requires further exploration and study as it reinforcesthe position that platforms increasingly serve ascritical economic infrastructure for large segments of Indiarsquos gig workforceFourth an effective ban on these applications which is whattheir removal from app stores would be tantamount to would not hold up to constitutional scrutiny Any restriction placed on the fundamental right to do business guaranteed by Article 191g of the Constitution has to pass the test of proportionalityAmong other things the test of proportionality requires that theremust not be any other less restrictive yet equally effective alternative measure available If the dispute concerns the legality of bike taxi operations within Maharashtra several narrower regulatory alternatives remain available to the State Authorities could suspend or restrict specific services within territorial limits impose penalties initiate adjudicatory proceedings or require compliancerelated modificationsRidehailing platforms are no longer an urban luxury they are a vital means of transit in the country Obviating them from app stores will only serve to harm the countryrsquos wider interests as they generate employment play a key role in women joining the workforce an essential complement to existing public transit infrastructure and an effective substitute when such infrastructure is absent The Maharashtra cybercrime cell must reconsider its request to app storeproviders andmove towards a more proportionate way of dealing with these service providers

India Needs Smarter Regulation for Ride-Hailing Platforms, Not App Store Bans

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India Needs Smarter Regulation for Ride-Hailing Platforms, Not App Store Bans

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