Pakistan: Uber and Careem banned, considered illegal and unsafe

(AGI) - Karachi, 1 feb. - The social media in Pakistan was taken by a storm on Wednesday with citizens from various quarters of the society grilling the government for banning Uber and Careem in this country of more than 200 million. A day earlier, two biggest states in Pakistan banned multi-national online transportation networks Uber and Careem. The governments of Sindh and Punjab have sought legal action against the ride hailing services. These provincial governments have declared the use of private cars as taxis without mandatory legal permits as 'illegal'. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has been directed to block Careem and Uber's mobile apps. Both of these services; the Dubai-headquartered Careem and Uber entered Pakistan last year. However, they have come to the notice of the authorities just recently for allegedly offering transport services "without registering private cars with any regulatory body." The provincial governments have stated in the notices issued in this regard that since private cars, which must not be used for commercial purposes, are used for Uber and Careem, such services are not only violating local laws but also pose a security threat for the public. Junaid Iqbal, the MD Careem Pakistan,has responded to the ban imposed on Careem and Uber services. "We are in talks with government institutions to understand where ride-hailing falls in terms of legal guidelines. We aim to work with the government of Pakistan to bring in 100,000 private cars in our service before the end of 2018. Ride-hailing is the new kind of technology and where its legal definition hasn't yet been addressed," said Iqbal in a live session on Facebook. The arrival of Uber and Careem in Pakistan complemented the fast growing e-commerce industry in this South Asian country, where number of smart phone users is estimated to be around 40 million. The recently imposed ban on these online transportation networks has particularly been criticizes by Pakistanis due to grim transportation issues in the country. (AGI) .