Big Blow to Rapido, Ola, Uber: Delhi Govt Bans Bike Taxi Services in National Capital

In a big blow to bike taxi operators in Delhi, the transport department has banned commercial bike taxi services against plying on the roads of Delhi. Carrying passengers on hire or reward basis will be considered a violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, that would make aggregators liable for a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The first offence could lead to a fine of Rs 5,000 while a second offence could incur a Rs 10,000 fine and imprisonment of up to a year, the department said in a public notice. The driver will also lose their licence for three months under the circumstances.

The notice said some app-based companies are portraying themselves as aggregators in violation of the 1988 act. This will be punishable with a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court refused to grant relief to bike taxi aggregator Rapido against the Maharashtra government's refusal to grant licence to it.

It had noted that amendments made to the Motor Vehicles Act in 2019 made it clear that aggregators cannot operate without a valid licence. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala noted that Pune's Regional Transport Office had rejected its plea for licence on December 21.

The bench said Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (Rapido) can challenge the state government's January 19 notification which prohibited the use of "non-transport vehicle" from car pooling in Bombay High Court. It stated that the validity of the RTO's December order would stand subsumed by the subsequent wider decision of the state government.

With PTI inputs