Shuttle and ride sharing service ZipGo has launched a Change.org petition asking its users and Bangalore citizens to help it reinstate the business stating that it does not violate any laws and regulations. At the time of writing, over 3,600 people out of the needed 5,000 signatures had signed the petition. As of now, users cannot book routes on the ZipGo app which throws up the following message: “Dear ZipGo member--Our services are not operational today due to Transport Department issue (RTO) issue.” Earlier this month, ZipGo had to stop its services in Bangalore after the RTO seized an unknown number of vehicles on its platform citing that ZipGo did not have valid permits to ply in the city. The company, founded by Pritesh Gupta, Neeraj Paliwal, Gaurav Agarwal, and Jitender Sharma says that it has a 100 employees and ‘hundreds of drivers’ on its platform. App based aggregator, not a shuttle company In the petition, ZipGo calls itself an app based aggregator like Uber and Ola, whose vehicles carry contract carriage permits and other required documents like registration certificate, road tax receipt, insurance receipt, PUC certificate and vehicle fitness certificate. It adds that all drivers on the platform have commercial licenses and badges, and undergo police verification. It states that ZipGo complies with all laws and regulations, specifically Section 2(7) of the Motor Vehicles Act that deals with the Contract Carriage Permits. RTO considering taking the company’s permissions away This is not the first time the startup has had…
