The State Transport Authority (STA), Chandigarh, has suspended the aggregator licences of Uber and Rapido for six months with immediate effect, citing sustained failure to comply with the Chandigarh Administration Motor Vehicles Aggregators Rules, 2025.
The orders, dated September 8, 2026, were issued by Nitish Singla, PCS, Secretary, State Transport Authority, UT Chandigarh, in his capacity as Licensing Authority, in exercise of powers under Rule 17 of the 2025 Rules notified on June 24, 2025.
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Uber's services in the Union Territory are run by Uber India Systems Private Limited, which was granted an aggregator licence vide No. 04/STA/AL/2024 dated February 27, 2024, under the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020, adopted by the Chandigarh Administration in November 2022. Rapido is operated by Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited. Both licences are deemed to have been issued under the 2025 Rules.
A year of notices
The orders set out a compliance trail stretching back more than a year. Following complaints from cab drivers alleging non-compliance on health insurance, term insurance, driver training and fare structure, the STA wrote to the aggregator in July 2025 and followed up with a reminder in August 2025, seeking a compliance report within 15 days. The reply received was examined and found not to be in consonance with the Rules.
A committee was constituted in August 2025 to examine compliance. It visited the company's local office in September 2025 and submitted an inspection report finding the Rules had not been complied with. A show-cause notice was issued in October 2025 under Rule 17. Two replies filed that month were again found to be non-compliant.
Meetings chaired by the Secretary, STA, were held on January 8 and May 7, 2026, at which the companies were directed to comply on insurance, driver training and implementation of the fare rates notified on July 7, 2025, and to submit a compliance report within 15 days. According to the order, no reply was received.
Locked offices and a subscription model
The committee visited the local address provided by the company three times, on May 1, May 8 and May 19, 2026, and each time reported that the office was found closed or locked, which the STA has recorded as a violation in itself.
A compliance report filed in July 2026, along with photographs and other records, was examined and found to fall short on most provisions of the Rules, including the notified fare structure.
The order also takes up the subscription model used by aggregators. The Tricity Cab Drivers Welfare Association, whose most recent complaint was received on September 3, 2026, told the STA that drivers attached to the platform were being directed to make prepaid recharges or buy subscriptions. Transport union members met the Secretary on the same date and submitted records of fares being charged, which the authority says show a subscription and recharge model in use, along with instances of overcharging.
Rule 14(iii) of the 2025 Rules bars an aggregator from charging more than the taxi fare fixed by the Chandigarh Administration. Aggregators may charge up to 20 per cent below the fixed fare, with intimation to the STA.
On insurance, the company had said that cover for bike-taxi captains is activated automatically and stays active for the duration of each ride. On examination, the STA found the cover was limited to accidental death and injury insurance and did not meet the requirements prescribed under the Rules.
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The order further notes that, instead of responding on compliance, the company submitted representations seeking that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, be adopted in Chandigarh. A list of attached vehicles sought in July 2026 also showed non-commercial vehicles attached to the platform, which is not permitted in the UT.
The STA concluded that the company had wilfully failed to comply despite sufficient opportunity and considerable time.
Third action this year
The suspension is the latest in a series of enforcement actions in the UT. The STA had earlier suspended the aggregator licence of ANI Technologies, which operates Ola, and of Indsystems IT, which runs inDrive, in each case for six months. Show-cause notices had gone to all four platforms after inspections at their listed Chandigarh offices.