India's Karnataka state directs Uber, others to stop three-wheeler services

India's IT hub directs Uber, others to stop three-wheeler services BENGALURU Reuters - India's southern state of Karnataka has asked cab aggregation companies Uber, SoftBank-backed Ola and Rapido to stop three-wheeler services in Bengaluru, a top government official said.

They are not authorised to ply autos. Hemantha Kumara, additional commissioner for transport, Bengaluru, told Reuters that they are charging exorbitantly and it is a serious complaint.

He said that he can't tolerate harassment from customers and justify the exorbitant rates, and that the transport department issued a notice to the companies to stop the service in India's IT hub on Thursday.

Ola and Uber India didn't want to say anything. In the past few weeks, Uber has been running TV ads on its autorickshaw service in India.

The country is a growing market for ride-hailing companies as people try to avoid driving in congested roads and autorickshaws, or tuk-tuks, one of the most economical modes of short travel.

Rapido said its operations in Bengaluru are not illegal and it will respond to the notice.

The company said in a statement that Rapido is not charging any extra money over the fares, because all of our fares are determined in accordance with the fares decided by the state government.

Last month, India's competition regulators had said surge-pricing adopted by cab aggregators appeared to be a 'Black Box' for customers and urged transparency.