Green SM Cabs is facing a demand for a ban in Telangana after BRS general secretary RS Praveen Kumar alleged that the Vietnam-based company’s low fares were threatening the livelihoods of local cab drivers in the State.
Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Thursday, Kumar said Green SM Cabs had been operating in Hyderabad for about a month and was charging around Rs 8 per km. He alleged that the pricing was making the service more attractive to customers while placing local cab drivers under financial pressure.
Kumar claimed that nearly six lakh cab drivers in Telangana could be affected by the company’s entry. He questioned who had granted permission for Green SM Cabs to operate in Hyderabad and alleged that the company was functioning through partnerships and was not paying GST. These claims were made by Kumar at the press conference and were not independently established in the report.
The BRS leader also demanded a regulated fare structure for cab services in Telangana. He said cab drivers should receive a fare card similar to the one provided to auto-rickshaw drivers, arguing that a formal fare mechanism would create a more level playing field in the transport market.
Kumar questioned Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar over the company’s entry into the city and criticised the Congress government for not preventing its operations. He said the government’s policies were pushing local drivers into uncertainty, linking the issue to wider concerns over employment and recruitment in Telangana.
The dispute places app-based cab pricing within a broader regulatory question for Hyderabad: how should governments balance lower fares for passengers with the earnings and operating costs of drivers? The report does not provide the company’s response, details of any government permission, or an official assessment of the alleged GST and employment impact.
Kumar also criticised the Congress government’s promise to provide two lakh jobs annually and alleged irregularities in recruitment through the Telangana Overseas Manpower Company, or TOMCOM. He contrasted the present administration with the previous BRS government, saying several industries had come to Telangana when KT Rama Rao was the Information Technology Minister.
The immediate demand from the BRS is for the State government to ban Green SM Cabs and introduce regulated fares for cab services. No government decision or formal response to the demands was reported.
