How do we educate regulators better? Ola and Uber bike taxi declared illegal.
When I read OLA and Uber launch bike taxis on the same day, yesterday, I was very happy. Happy for the fact that they feel the pain of every day commuter, their customer, and are figuring novel ways to solve it.
For those who aren’t familiar, Bangalore traffic sucks. Big time. Not just in peak hours. Sometimes it’s much more faster to just walk than going by car or public transportation.
If you want a sample of Bangalore Traffic, check this parody twitter account. It’s called Silk Board Junction with the description “Timely and detailed updates from India’s largest parking lot. Parody. Sapiosexual.”
But just one day after the launch announcement, the state government decides to shutdown the service. They are declaring it “illegal” as they don’t have appropriate licenses.
As a customer, I have my own fair share of concerns in using such a service. I don’t know if I would trust a stranger to be a pillion rider, which is fraught with danger.
But in a market that is crying out for help, where getting from point A to point B is such an acute pain, I can imagine that people will opt for this option.
Bike taxis aren’t all that new. It has been successful in several cities in Africa and East Asian markets. All that needs to be done is to learn from those markets and implement those controls to help safeguard consumer interests.
By shutting it down, the regulators are trying to make decisions for it’s citizens. It’s like bad parenting.
Let the customers vote with their wallet. Uber, Ola and other private players aren’t benevolent charities. If they can’t make viable money they will close it.
Atleast give a choice to run this as an experiment with controls.
But slamming down by just shutting down a novel service and ceasing vehicles is just ridiculous, in my opinion.
It just goes on to show how disconnected the government and regulators are from the reality of everyday life of citizens and not understanding what innovation is.
Innovation doesn’t always happen by just complying. It’s about solving problems within the boundaries, sometimes pushing the boundaries and help redefine them.
On the one side government says “Startup India, Stand up India”. On the other side it borders on ridiculousness in execution.
If there is a single window committee for consultation, comprised of enterprising entrepreneurs, to bridge the gap between regulators, government and startups that could be a great way to start.
Wake up guys!
