The controversy over bike taxis, which are prohibited by law, resurfaced during a Transport Department enforcement drive when 20 bike taxis of a ride-hailing app were seized.
A special squad of Koramangala and Jayanagar RTOs checked 794 vehicles and seized over 34 of them. During the drive, the inspectors seized 20 bike taxis which were booked by customers through the Rapido Taxi app. The company operates in four cities (Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mysuru and Gurugram) and claims to have over 3 lakh customers.
The Transport Department, which had clamped down on Ola and Uber’s bike taxis last year, said the services are ‘illegal and unauthorised’.
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“The service is running without the permission of the Regional Transport Authority. The public is requested not to use this illegal service,” said J. Gnanendra Kumar, Joint Commissioner for Transport (Bengaluru Urban).
Pavan G., one of the founders of Rapido, said the currently non-profit platform has been in touch with the State and central government on the concept of bike taxis. “Based on our suggestions, the central government had released draft rules in 2016 asking States to legalise bike taxis. More than eight States have done so, and we have been in touch with the Transport Department on this issue. We sought to clarify apprehensions about safety through features such as SOS button, live tracking and insurance for pillion riders. We will continue to engage with the State government on this as we believe bike taxis solve a major commuting problem,” he told The Hindu .