Cab aggregation companies Ola and Uber have been given an extension till Friday to stop operating their UberPool and Ola Share services, respectively, in the state. The decision was announced at a meeting attended by senior Uber and Ola representatives at the transport commissioner’s office in Bengaluru on Monday evening.

Last week, FactorDaily had reported that the transport department had asked them to stop operating cab pooling services from Monday, as they are not “legal”. But the companies had sought three days to comply with the order as they need to make changes in their apps.

Meanwhile, the transport commissioner gave them some hope by saying that they could request a rethink on the decision and that the transport department would take it up with the Indian government.

“Ola and Uber can’t operate pool services as per the MVA (Motor Vehicles Act 1988). There is no permission for it. But, in the public interest, if they still want to, we have a provision in Karnataka transport laws to amend (the rules). Let these companies write a request to us and I will take it to the government,” said transport commissioner M K Aiyyappa.

The meeting was also attended by the Karunadu Cab Drivers and Owners Association. The drivers said that they would not operate the share and pool services even if the companies want to continue doing so.

“We would like to reiterate that UberPool is clearly within the law. We will continue to engage with the transport department and the Karnataka government as ride-sharing products like UberPool are the future of urban mobility, helping decongest cities by getting more people into fewer cars and letting riders move around their city more affordably,” an Uber spokesperson told FactorDaily.

FactorDaily has contacted an Ola representative for their comments on the development, but we are yet to hear from them. We will update this story as soon as we do.

---