MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought a specific response from the state government on whether it is going to permit the operation of two-wheeler aggregators in Tamil Nadu.
A bench of justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel raised the question while hearing a PIL filed by R Naveen Kumar of Madurai, seeking enactment of a comprehensive regulatory framework governing two-wheeler aggregators to enable lawful operation of bike taxi services in the state.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the additional advocate general informed that a committee has been formed to frame rules for aggregators in the state. The said committee consisted of the joint and deputy transport commissioners, representatives of Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), representatives of the finance department, among others.
The committee would need six months to frame the rules, namely the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Aggregator Rules, he added. However, the petitioner’s counsel claimed that the two-wheelers operating as bike taxis are being unreasonably fined a sum of Rs10,000 by the government, while the aggregators do not face any action. Following this, the bench posed the above question and adjourned the case to August 3.
Kumar stated that app-based bike taxi services have become an integral part of the transport ecosystem and serve as a primary source of livelihood for students and unemployed youth from economically weaker sections of the community. However, the state government’s failure to notify a specific scheme for such use of motorcycles for hire has created a critical regulatory vacuum, affecting the life and safety of passengers as well as the rights and livelihood of bike taxi drivers, Kumar claimed.