Opposition lawmaker slams govt for trying to deprive citizens of inexpensive travelling services; transport minister responds saying govt has no intention to cause inconvenience to masses and app-based cab services will not be shut down
Reiterating that app-based cab services Uber and Careem are not being shut down, the transport minister informed the provincial assembly on Wednesday that the government was working on setting up a rent-a-car authority to regulate such companies.
Transport minister Nasir Hussain Shah was responding to a call-attention notice of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Jamal Ahmed.
The minister said the app-based cab services had to fulfil the formalities and procedures of the government laid down for operating commercial vehicles.
Speaking on his call attention notice, the opposition legislator said Uber and Careem were providing inexpensive travelling facilities to the people belonging to the lower- and middle-income groups.
He said drivers operating the cars in the fleet of Uber and Careem were educated and had driving licences. He added that people who wanted to avail the services could easily contact the providers through their cell phone apps.
The MQM MPA said the fare of the new online cab service was as low as Rs6 per kilometre.
He added that the government had never bothered to check the fitness of other vehicles being used in the city, many of which were extremely old.
“There are 1964 model vehicles plying the roads of the city without any fitness check or certificate.”
Responding to the opposition legislator, the transport minister said under the law non-commercial motor vehicles could not be used for commercial purposes and violation of this law authorised the provincial government to take action under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965.
He said vehicles being used for commercial purposes were required to deposit 10 percent tax to the provincial excise and taxation department.
He added that the provincial government was aware of the transportation problems being faced by the people and it would take no such action that lead to the shutting down of the app-base cab services. However, he added that both the companies needed to fulfil the legal requirements.
“Both Uber and Careem have repeatedly been sent notices to ensure that their services complied with the transportation law. “Not a single car belonging to the two cab services has been impounded by the provincial authorities so far.”
The minister said the Punjab government had taken the action against the two cab services in Lahore in late January but the Sindh government was avoiding taking such steps keeping in view the convenience of the masses.
“In fact, the provincial government is also avoiding taking action under its fitness regime against the old black-and-yellow cabs plying in the city,” he added.
The minister said as far as Uber was concerned, he himself had arranged an agreement between the company and the provincial government which was signed at the Chief Minister’s House. He added that the provincial transport department had acted as the liaison authority between Uber and the provincial government. “We will have no objection if Uber and Careem start acting as per the law. They should carry on with their operations as we feel that nobody has the right to withdraw any facility being provided by somebody else until the government can provide better travelling services to the masses.”
Liquor shops
Parliamentary affairs minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro informed the House that permits issued by the provincial government for operating liquor shops were meant to sell alcohol to non-Muslims only.
He said the provincial authorities were bound to take action when authorised liquor shops were found violating the law.
The minister was responding to a call-attention notice of MQM lawmaker Syed Nadeem Razi who demanded liquor shops in the city operating in Muslim-majority areas should be shut down.
The opposition lawmaker said in certain instances liquor shops were found functional in close proximity of schools and mosques where children and women frequently passed.
Responding to the call-attention notice, Khuhro said he objected to the assertion of the opposition legislator under which he was virtually dividing the city on the basis of Muslim majority and minority population areas as had been the norm during the days of colonial rule in the Subcontinent.
He said the opposition legislator in his speech should not distinguish between the areas of the city on the basis of religious affiliation of the population residing there.
He said the liquor shop in Malir 15 identified by the legislator in his call-attention notice had been shut down on December 9, 2014 by the authorities after receiving complaints and it was still closed.
Uproar in House
Before the adjournment of the session till Thursday (today), a verbal spat broke out between the opposition and treasury benches. MQM legislator Dr Zafar Kamali raised the issue of the recent firing of 52 employees of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Mirpurkhas. He alleged that these employees were sacked because they belonged to the Urdu-speaking community.
The lawmaker also pointed out the large-scale bogus recruitments in education department during the PPP’s previous tenure.
Responding to the allegations, provincial minister Nisar Khuhro said the opposition legislator had wrongly portrayed the issue in an ethnic context. “Such problems can’t be viewed on the basis of the supposed divide between the Urdu- and Sindhi-speaking populations in the province,” he added.
He said hatred should not be spread among the residents of the province on the basis of language. He noted that it was also the stated policy of the MQM that the followers of the party were Urdu-speaking Sindhi population of the province.
Acting speaker Shehla Raza intervened to calm down the lawmakers.