Single-window licensing portal for cab aggregators may go live by year-end

Mint

8 hours ago

New Delhi: The government may launch a centralised portal for ride-hailing platforms, offering a single-window clearance system for aggregator licence applications. The portal is expected to go live in the next three to four months, two people familiar with the development said.
The ministry of road transport and highways plans to streamline and speed up the licensing process for cab aggregators such as Ola, Uber and Rapido across states by integrating the approval mechanisms of individual state governments, the first person said.
'Work on developing a central portal for cab aggregators has already begun and is likely to begin service before the end of the year, around October-November. Till such time, the state governments would process applications for a licence, as per existing guidelines," the second person quoted above said.
The development follows the ministry's move to issue the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines 2025 earlier this month, seeking to streamline cab aggregator services in the country. The guidelines define the rights and duties of the service provider and the customer. They prescribe rules for pricing, and employment of drivers, and also propose psychological analysis of drivers to determine whether they are fit to be onboarded.
'A larger bouquet of services are expected to be offered by the proposed central portal in phases. But initially the portal will receive applications for licence as aggregator, including receipt of appropriate application fee, license fee and security deposit," said the first person.
A unified process of accepting and issuing licences would allow companies to enter new markets more quickly, supporting growth and innovation. It would also reduce the need for navigating state-specific legal and procedural requirements, cutting down on intermediary and advisory expenses, said Pratik Shah, Partner, EY-Parthenon.
'However, successful implementation will depend on how well the central and state authorities collaborate, and whether the platform has a binding mandate," he added.
What the industry said
Industry players have largely welcomed the move. 'Aggregators like ours, which operate pan-India at a national scale, will undoubtedly benefit from a streamlined and uniform regulatory framework that supports both innovation and ease of doing business," said a spokesperson from Rapido.
'Currently, navigating multiple state-level processes can often lead to varied interpretations, procedural duplications, and extended timelines… A single window system would definitely help reduce compliance complexity and bring much-needed consistency across jurisdictions," the spokesperson added.
Queries sent to the transport ministry, Uber and Ola did not elicit a response till press time.
While state governments play a crucial role in processing aggregator license applications, the absence of a uniform approach across states is a major challenge for the industry.
Currently, ride-hailing players face delays in states where the licensing ecosystem is still maturing or involves layered approval structures, leading to repetitive submissions of the same corporate documents, driver and vehicle data, and technical affidavits in each individual state, EY's Shah said.
'Aggregators had previously argued that state-level variations in licensing rules, compliance requirements, and enforcement created regulatory uncertainty and duplicative costs," said an industry executive in the know of the matter.
'The centralized portal idea reflects a huge pain point that platforms have dealt with for years," said another industry executive.
Compliance burden will be reduced if platforms have a single-window central portal, a source from an aggregator said on condition of anonymity. "The current process with state governments causes significant delays and duplication of efforts."
The updated rules permit ride aggregators to use dynamic pricing—where fares change in real time based on demand and supply—within specified limits.
Aggregators can now charge up to twice the base fare during peak hours—an increase from the earlier cap of 1.5 times. During non-peak hours, fares must be at least 50% of the base fare.
Additionally, the base fare must cover a minimum distance of three kilometres to account for "dead mileage," which includes the distance travelled without a passenger and the fuel used to reach the pickup point
Moreover, the base fare charged to passengers using aggregator services will be determined by the fare rates notified by the respective state government for each category or class of motor vehicles.
The guidelines also revise the revenue-sharing model, allowing drivers to retain up to 80% of the fare if they own the vehicle and are directly onboarded by the aggregator. Additionally, cancellation charges—whether initiated by the driver or passenger—will be 10% of the fare, capped at ₹100.
The aggregator licence fee has been set at ₹5 lakh, valid for five years from the date of issue. Aggregators must also submit a security deposit ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹50 lakh, depending on their fleet size. Additionally, the guidelines introduce mandatory training modules for drivers and outline compliance requirements.