In yet another major crackdown on offline ride-hailing, police on Sunday rounded up 48 offline drivers of Pathao and inDrive, the ride-hailing apps, from different places in Kathmandu.

The District Police Range, Kathmandu said it impounded 75 motorcycles used for the rides.

Police have requested the public to avoid offline rides saying that offline drivers were found involved in various criminal activities in recent times heightening risk to passengers.

Earlier on October 16, police booked 86 offline drivers amid complaints of their involvement in criminal activities and increased risk of security to passengers.

The Auditor General’s report published in April said ride-hailing companies are proliferating in Nepal and they have been making good income, but they are not registered, and nor do they pay taxes.

International ride-hailing service inDrive has been arranging an average of 29,300 rides daily and has an annual turnover of Rs2.11 billion. But it is operating informally, the report said.

According to Pathao, there are around 150,000 registered drivers with the company and they conduct an average of 60,000 trips daily.

As per the audit report, there are 25 ride-hailing companies in Nepal using the Global Positioning System and digital platforms, but none of them is registered for what they are currently doing.

Carrying fare-paying passengers in a vehicle registered for private use is illegal and the vehicle must be registered, operated, managed and inspected as per the law.

The government has yet to bring laws to govern ride-sharing apps.