A top government official said that Uber, SoftBank-backed Ola and Rapido have been asked by India's southern state of Karnataka to stop three-wheeler services in Bengaluru.
They are not authorised to ply autos. Hemantha Kumara, additional commissioner for transport, Bengaluru, said they are charging exorbitantly and it is a serious complaint.
He said the transport department issued a notice to the companies to stop the service in India's IT hub on Thursday, because they can't tolerate harassment from customers and justify the exorbitant rates.
Ola and Uber India didn't want to say anything. In recent weeks, Uber has been running TV ads on its autorickshaw service in India.
The country is a growth market for ride-hailing companies, as people are trying to avoid driving in congestion and autorickshaws, or tuk-tuks, one of the most economical modes of short travel.
Rapido said that its operations in Bengaluru are not illegal and it will respond to the notice.
Rapido is not charging any extra money over the fares, and all of our fares are determined in accordance with the fares decided by the state government.
India's competition regulators said last month that surge-pricing adopted by cab aggregators appeared to be a 'Black Box' for customers and urged transparency.