Meru Cabs Withdraws 7-Year-Old Predatory Pricing Appeal Against Ola, Uber

Cab-hailing company Meru Travel Solutions (Meru Cabs), whose consumer mobility business now operates under the Alyte brand, has withdrawn its seven-year-old competition appeal against ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

Meru Cabs told the NCLAT that financial constraints and the prolonged impact on its business have left it unable to continue pursuing the appeal.

A division bench allowed Meru to unconditionally withdraw the appeal after the company said it was no longer in a position to pursue the litigation.

According to the NCLAT order, Meru has been “struggling with severe impact on its operations and revenues” for a considerable period, affecting its ability to continue with the case.  

“It is not viable for the appellant to continue with the same any longer and as such the management of the appellant has decided to withdraw the appeal,” the order read. 

The development was first reported by Bar and Bench.

Founded in 2006, Meru was among India’s earliest organised cab operators and had built a presence in airport ride-hailing, corporate employee transportation and electric vehicle fleet operations. It was acquired by Mahindra Logistics in 2021 to strengthen its enterprise mobility business. 

The company later rebranded Meru’s consumer taxi business as Alyte in August 2025.

The case stems from a 2018 CCI order that dismissed four complaints filed by Meru against Ola and Uber over alleged anti-competitive practices in the radio taxi markets of Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Meru had alleged that the ride-hailing companies used deep discounts, driver incentives and below-cost pricing, collectively spending around ₹13,000 Cr on incentives, to drive competitors out of the market. However, the CCI dismissed the complaints at the prima facie stage, ruling that such incentives did not amount to anti-competitive conduct. Meru challenged the decision before the NCLAT. With the appeal now withdrawn, the CCI’s 2018 order remains unchanged.

Questions sent by Inc42 to Mahindra Logistics on the matter didn’t elicit any response till publication. 

Ola, Uber Under Scanner

Meru’s case was not the only competition law challenge faced by the ride-hailing companies.

In 2015, Chennai-based Fast Track Call Cab accused Ola of predatory pricing, excessive driver incentives and abuse of dominance. The CCI dismissed the complaint, holding that Ola was not dominant in the relevant market, a decision that was later upheld by the NCLAT.

Around the same time, Mega Cabs also alleged that Ola used deep discounts and incentives to drive competitors out of Delhi. The CCI rejected the complaint on similar grounds, ruling that Ola did not hold a dominant position.

Despite multiple complaints over the past decade, the Indian antitrust regulator has not found either Ola or Uber guilty of predatory pricing or abuse of dominance.

The issue of aggressive pricing in the ride-hailing sector resurfaced recently when Union home minister Amit Shah, while launching the Bharat Taxi cooperative service in new cities of Gujarat, accused incumbent ride-hailing platforms of cutting fares and increasing driver commissions to prevent the new entrant from gaining market share.

“Today, I received some phone calls, and some newspapers have reported that Bharat Taxi’s fares are higher. I want to tell customers across the country that wherever Bharat Taxi is entering, competing companies are slashing their fares, ready to incur losses,” Shah said.

He added that incumbent players were increasing commissions for “sarathis” (drivers) to discourage them from joining Bharat Taxi, while asserting that the government-backed cooperative platform would continue expanding with support such as loans, insurance and business assistance for drivers.

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