“Careem and Uber services are not suspended”

Sindh Transport Minister announces that Careem and Uber services have not been suspended in Karachi. They are only notified to show fitness certificates and permits within a month. Punjab govt is also reviewing the status of Careem and Uber.

Punjab Government declared Careem, Uber and other ride-hailing services illegal this morning because they have not registered the private vehicles with any regulatory body nor obtained fitness certificate/route permits.

Sindh

After Punjab, Sindh Government also reportedly banned their services by asking PTA to take down the applications of Careem and Uber.

Sindh Minister Syed Nasir Shah has cleared now that there has been no crackdown against their services. The ride-hailing companies are only asked to obtain fitness certificates, licenses and route permit within a month.

Ride-hailing using mobile applications is a new sort of technology and there have been no regulations about that yet. This service is being adopted worldwide and many countries are amending their regulations to adopt it. Careem’s MD Junaid Iqbal said that they have been in talks with the government about the issue.

Punjab

Whereas, in Punjab, Umar Saif, Chairman PITB, while giving an interview to DAWN, has mentioned that the government is trying to work out an innovative model so that the ride-hailing services can register the vehicles with regulatory bodies and the services can be taxed. He said,

“We brought them to Pakistan with a lot of effort and the conversation had been going on from the start. We asked them for a proposal. They’ve had extensive meetings with the transport department and provincial authorities.

There are two ways that a government can approach such companies when they launch: 1) treat them as a taxi service or 2) treat them as a service that government can regulate. We don’t want to treat them as a taxi service. But they need to be regulated and taxed. They must register as a formal business under a new taxation regime.”

He added that these companies also create employment and take rides off the roads due to ride-sharing because roads are congested. He said that government is taking a balanced approach to come up with a new taxation policy that will help people get jobs as well as regulate the industry.

Update:

It is to clarify that the services were never banned but the companies will have to fulfill legal obligations.

— Punjab 2013-18 (@Punjab13to18) January 31, 2017

Within 15 days transport dept of Punjab will carry out this exercise. Sole purpose is public safety & to bring this activity in tax net

— Punjab 2013-18 (@Punjab13to18) January 31, 2017