KARACHI: The Sindh government has not imposed any kind of ban on ride-hailing companies Uber and Careem but given them a month to get registered as commercial transportation firms.
Responding to a calling attention motion during the Sindh Assembly’s session under the chair of Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza on Wednesday, Transport Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said that the Sindh government was working on setting up a rent-a-car authority, which would be announce soon.
Replying to a query of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) lawmaker Jamal Ahmed, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) minister further said, “We don’t want to ban ride-hailing companies but implement the laws.”
Jamal Ahmed said that Careem was providing better transport services to the middle and lower-middle classes. He said that the ride-hailing company’s drivers were educated and anyone could easily avail the service online. He said that people are even using Careem’s services in weddings and other occasion, as the city’s taxi and CNG rickshaw drivers were victimising the commuters. He said that Uber and Careem were charging commuters Rs 6 per kilometre.
Coming down hard on the Sindh government for asking the companies to provide vehicle fitness certificates, he said that more than 50-year-old buses were plying on city roads, while the Transport Department did not take action against all unfit vehicles.
Nasir Shah said that commercial transporters had to pay 10 percent tax to the Excise Department.
He said that the Sindh government was aware of the transport problems in the metropolis, and “we do not want to ban such transport services (Uber and Careem)”. However, he said that it was the companies’ responsibility to get themselves registered.
He said that Careem authorities had been asked several times to get the company registered as a commercial transport operator. In Lahore, the Punjab government started a crackdown on the service on January 20, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, PPP parliamentary leader Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that all wine shops had been issued permits to sell liquor only to non-Muslims, and anyone violating the law would be dealt with.
MQM lawmaker Syed Nadeem Razi said that some of the wine shops were situated near mosques, schools and commercial markets, and liquor was being sold openly in front of passers-by, including women and children.
Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro, while responding to the calling attention motion of MQM lawmaker Naila Muneer, said that work on the Malir Flyover had been completed and it was open for the general public. Later, the deputy speaker adjourned the session until today (Thursday).