The ongoing rift between the Sindh government and Careem taxi service has ended as the latter has agreed to register as per the legal requirements. During a hearing held Wednesday at Sindh High Court, the government’s counsel said that the taxi service will have to seek permission under the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1965.
A summary of the agreement reached between both the parties has been forwarded to the law department. The court ruled all matters to be settled as per the law. Moreover, replies on the case will be sought until April 27 from the Sindh government, law and transport department and other relevant authorities.
The issue was raised by a petition claiming that Careem was being run illegally on a commercial basis, without registration to operate as a taxi service. In response, the Sindh government declared the use of private cars as taxis without the mandatory legal permits as “illegal” and directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block Careem’s mobile app.
In a statement by Careem’s Pakistan Managing Director Junaid Iqbal, the company urged the provincial governments to embrace the idea of ride-hailing as it was a positive initiative that would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
