BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for taxi aggregators to cease all their bike taxi operations by another six weeks till June 15.
Justice B M Shyam Prasad passed the order after hearing the applications filed by the taxi aggregators seeking an extension of time.
On April 2, the high court granted six weeks to Ola, Uber and Rapido to cease all their operations as aggregators of bike taxis. After six weeks, the state government had to ensure that all bike taxi operations be stopped, the court said, noting that unless the state government notified the relevant guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the rules thereunder, the petitioners cannot operate as aggregators offering bike taxi services.
The counsel for one of the taxi aggregators submitted that after the order was passed by the court on April 2, the chief secretary convened a meeting, where details of the policy in other states were made available. There is a general expectation that the request would be considered if there could be an extension of another six weeks. Another counsel for another petitioner submitted that the court may consider that a number of persons are currently running bike taxis and they require more time to make alternative arrangements, he pleaded.
Advocate General K Shashi Kiran Shetty, however, opposed both those grounds, emphasising that a meeting may be conveyed, but the expectation of a particular decision may not be justified. After hearing this, the court extended the time, saying that there should be no precipitation and a reasonable opportunity is given to all.