Karnataka High Court asks Rapido, other bike taxi services to suspend operation until govt forms guidelines

The court has asked the state government to ensure the services are suspended within six weeks.

The bike taxi services, which have emerged as a popular choice for daily commuters in various metro cities, cannot operate until the government formulates guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the court said.

"The transport department cannot be directed to register motorcycles as transport vehicles or issue contract carriage permits for such services until appropriate government regulations are in place," Justice B M Shyam Prasad said reading out the order as quoted by The Indian Express.

The state government has been given three months' time to form the rules and regulations for bike taxi operations.

The court ruling cited a 2019 expert committee report that threw light on the impact of bike taxis on traffic and safety.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, "We will review the certified copy in detail. We will wait (before taking any action) as the court has granted six weeks’ time for the aggregators to cease operations.

"The court has also given time to the state government to frame appropriate guidelines for bike taxi operations. We will work on it accordingly."

In the course of the court proceedings, senior advocate Arun Kumar acknowledged that Ola began its baxi taxi operation in April 2024 but asked all bike taxi aggregators to follow the order of suspending services.

In around 2016, Rapido's parent company Roppen Transportation Services Limited started offering bike taxi services in the city.

The state transport department said such services are illegal as two-wheelers with white number plates cannot be used for commercial services.

After the government carried out multiple crackdowns seizing hundreds of bikes over a span of time, Rapido moved the Karnataka High Court seeking a direction to the state government to stop interfering in their business and facilitate two-wheelers to get registered as transport vehicles.

The High Court in 2021 passed an order restraining the authorities from taking coercive action against bike taxis as the case was pending.

Tensions brewed when violent incidents were reported due to the clash of bike taxi riders and auto rickshaw unions.

In response to a plea by the Bike Taxi Welfare Association, the High Court in 2024 asked the state to provide protection to bike taxi operators from the harassment by the auto rickshaw drivers.

The court reinforced the bike taxi operators' right to operate provided under its own 2021 interim order.

On November 12, 2024, the court had reserved its judgement on the petition filed by Rapido seeking registration of two-wheelers as transport vehicles and issuance of permits under the Motor Vehicles Act. 

Besides Karnataka, bike taxi services have been broadly banned in other states like Maharashtra, Assam and Delhi by the respective state governments.