Uber, the car sharing company, operations of which was banned across the country by the Union Home Ministry last year, has got sanctions from Telangana to set up a $ 50 million facility in Hyderabad. The facility will be the company’s largest office in the world.

An MoU to this effect was signed between department of IT and Uber here on Monday, even as the company does not possess authorisation from the Road Transport Authority (RTA) to ply in the city. The cab service was banned by the Union Home Ministry after one of its registered drivers raped a woman passenger in December, the previous year. Following the Centre’s ban, the RTA, Hyderabad, had maintained last year that they would not allow the company to function in the city as it did not have legal sanctions to operate here. RTA officials, even on Monday, maintained that the company was not given the required authorisation till date.

Legal sanctions

When asked about the legal sanctions, Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary, said that the MoU was expected to give authorisation to the company if it followed Government of India regulations. “The government of India had sent an advisory to all State governments, asking each to enter into an agreement on standards which the car aggregators are expected to follow. As per the MoU, if Uber follows the GoI guidelines they will be given authorisation to ply in Hyderabad,” Mr. Ranjan said.

The RTA authorities, however, had not yet got wind of the GoI advisory, they maintained. “We haven’t got instructions from GoI as of now. We will look into authorisation after the orders reach us. However, if the State government permits operations we can support the same,” said B. Venkateswarlu, Joint Transport Commissioner.

The State government expects the San Francisco-based company to pump in the investment in the coming five years’ time. As per the MoU, Uber is expected to ensure entrepreneurship opportunities to thousands in the State. When asked about authorisation, Uber authorities failed to state their current legal standing with the transport authorities.

In a written response, the company stated that it “is currently based in 18 cities in India” and “in each of these cities including Hyderabad we have had constructive discussions with the regulators and the police who recognise the value Uber is bringing to riders and drivers.”