The House ICT Committee has once again asked ride-hailing apps Uber and Careem to place a limit on surge pricing — and it wants them to upgrade their GPS systems. The demands were made during a meeting with representatives from the companies on Monday, MP Marianne Azer told Al Mal. As we noted last week, the committee also wants the companies to scrap the fee charged to users who cancel ride requests on the grounds that it is “illegal.”

We’re still irate: Why would the House of Representatives think any of this is their business in the first place? Uber and Careem are private companies operating in a challenging market — and despite this, are witnessing explosive growth, as we’ve noted countless times. They operate in a marketplace, and if consumers don’t like their prices, they can stop using them. That is what an economy is. Uber and Careem are explicitly not the public mass transit of the proletariat. What’s next on the House’s agenda? Placing caps on the price of ice cream cakes and konafa? Opening up an investigation as to why Marassi is so expensive and hard to get into? With all due respect, doesn’t the House have more important items on its agenda? It could go water-down the value-added tax bill some more. Or debate what already appears to be a disastrous law on church construction. If the House is insistent on getting involved in regulating the cost of transport, it is always welcome to discuss lifting fuel subsidies or increasing the price of a ticket on the notoriously-loss making Cairo Metro system — without inciting riots. The one thing the House has demonstrated is that it does not have a stellar track record on generating revenue, and should perhaps consider deferring to the private sector on the matter. Oh, and did we mention Uber has pledged to invest EGP 500 mn in Egypt over the next two years?