New design policy of motor vehicle aggregator, 2025-poring to bring private buses and contractual vehicles within the application-based aggregator. A copy of the proposal, issued on Saturday and controlled by Mint, but still public, requires operators to hold valid permits and vehicles for vehicles over eight years of use.
If this step was implemented, it could finally legitimize the models of the shuttle range to consumers (B2C), such as the shuttle Uber, Cityflo and Khalo, which have long operated in the regulatory gray zone. In recent years, Uber and Cityflo have faced coercive measures in Mumbai, with the authorities confiscating buses and issued fines for alleged violations of permit.
“For many daily commuting, shuttles are offered by medium-so–ground and more comfortable and more comfortable buses, but increasingly cheaper than cabins,” said Amit Kaushik, an independent automotive expert. “They are particularly useful for people living in distant parts of cities that are not well connected by metro or local trains, which gives them a more reliable way to get to work.”
Questions sent to Cityflo and Uber did not immediately call an answer.
The rules’ design signals long -awaited legitimacy
The shuttle services where passengers share rides along the fixed or half -Popel routes, usually on buses, for faster and cheaper commuting, tried to take off in Maharashtra despite strong commuting demand. Operators usually study gaps in public transport, commuters and corporate clusters before the starts of the routes, with Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru are natural markets due to high car ownership and serious overload.
Seat prices in these services usually range from £120- £180, compared to £15 About public transport.
Yet Uber Space Shuttle, which was launched in Mumbai in 2021, was forced to close operations in the city and Hyderab in July 2025 and lacked regulatory obstacles, low rider and high costs. Maharashtra Transport Department said Uber and other operators running without valid shipping permits and gathering £12 Lakh in fines and seizure of 125 buses in national procedure.
Cityflo, which operates 450 buses after Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi, also faced control, although he claimed compliance.
There were no earlier Maharashtra rules specifically covering buses or shuttle traffic -based shutters. The previous state policy, Agregator CABS 2025, released on May 21, 2025, was driven only by the cabin and car aggregators, not by buses.
The new proposal issued by the Maharashtra Transport Department is the first to bring contractual buses and passenger buses to the aggregator framework.
The new proposal is trying to close a long -term regulatory gap.
“Finally, they provide long -awaited legitimacy for buses and shuttle models based on applications such as Cityflo and Khalo. Contracting buses are withdrawn at regulated digital frames, the state signals openness to public mobility cooperation,” Kushik said.
Legal experts claim that clarity is essential.
“The proposal goes a long way to solve the ambiguity around the legality of using permits to transport contracts for applications based on applications,” said Athira TS, a collaboration partner in King Stubb & Kasiva, a law firm. “This regulatory clarity can make the B2C Bus-Shuttle more expensive by reducing the risk of compliance, allowing long-term investment in fleet and increasing trust between investors and commuting.”
Although this proposal provides much clarity, some provisions could trigger challenges.
“The eight -year ceiling of the vehicle could be questioned as economically unfavorable and unconstitutional. Mechanisms for the determination of fares can also lead to disputes regarding the basic fare.
The rules’ proposal exceeds legitimizing applications based on applications. They set the mechanism of determining the fare, limited surge prices for 1.5 times the basic fare during top hours or ceremonial demand, and set conditions around the driver’s working time, including a maximum of 12 hours a day with at least 10 hours of rest.
The aggregators will also be obliged to obtain licenses from the State Transport Office or the relevant RTO, supported by the security deposit and a license fee linked to the fleet size.
Maharashtra’s transport department invited public objections and proposals until October 17, 2025, after which the rules are expected to be completed, although no fixed timeline has been announced.
Opportunities – and new obligations
For operators, they offer rules of legitimacy, but also a stricter molding of compliance.
They can now provide planned, technologically supported Point-to-Point services under a legal umbrella-implementation of commuters who are willing to pay more than public transport, but less than taxis. However, the requirements for compliance with regulations such as the driver’s training, insurance and strict preliminary reservation standards could increase operating costs.
“The explicitly bringing buses and contractual cars to the aggregator provides long -awaited legal coverage, reduces the risk of stopping and enables route and fleet planning,” said Pratik Shah, EY partner. “But the eight -year -old age and fare bands add a cost discipline that can burden smaller startups.”
Shah added that while the proposal increases the banking and confidence of investors, leading license fees and repeating costs of compliance will prefer well -funded operators. “Great railings point to the volume-over-Margin, but the commuting base Mumbai and Pune can still support a sustainable range,” he said.
Investors’ interest and market potential
Investments in risk capital in the Indian shuttle sector have so far been approximately $ 224 million, although the results were mixed.
B2C operators such as Shuttl (acquired by Chalo in 2021) and Zipgo (closed in 2019) tried to maintain operations, although they increased significant capital. Cityflo continues to work on a smaller scale.
On the other hand, B2B models, such as Routematic and MoveinSync, attracted more stable investors’ interest and won over $ 57 million. Their company ties provide predictable demand and regulatory shield, benefits that B2C services lack.
The executives in this industry estimate that Indian urban shuttle services could have an overall addressable market with more than 100,000 buses, representing an income opportunity of approximately $ 3 billion due to the current demand of commuting to metro and level I levels.
Managers in the field estimate that cities like Mumbai and Delhi require about 30,000 buses, even if the deficits remain.
Journey to us
The proposal of the rules could transform how private operators fit into the Maharashtra City Transport Mix. However, the execution will depend as much as the intention.
Details of implementation, including fare regulation, consistency for enforcement and coordination with state -owned enterprises, will determine whether policy actually opens a new way or creates more bureaucratic detours.
For operators of beaten shutdown and regulatory interventions, the design of the long -awaited opening is to create models based on applications in the law.
(Tagstotranslate) Maharashtra
