BENGALURU: The state government on Friday informed the High Court of Karnataka that it has taken a policy decision not to frame rules and guidelines to allow bike taxi services through Ola, Uber and Rapido.
Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty made this submission before a division bench of acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar. “As a policy, we do not want to frame rules for operation of bike taxis” and only eight states have permitted bike taxis in the country. The court was hearing the appeals filed by Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd, ANI Technology Pvt Ltd, Varikruti Mahendra Reddy, and others. They offer bike taxi services through Ola, Uber and Rapido.
They had appealed against the order passed by a single judge on April 2. The single judge declared that unless the state government notifies guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act and Rules, the petitioners cannot operate as aggregators offering bike taxi services and the transport department cannot issue directions to register motorcycles as transport vehicles or issue contract carriage permits.
The single judge gave time till June 15 for the taxi aggregators to stop bike taxi services and directed the state to ensure that all bike taxi operations are stopped after this.
Meanwhile, the division bench declined to pass an interim order at this stage on the request of the appellants to either extend the deadline for operating bike taxis for a short period or to direct the state government not to take coercive steps till the next date of hearing. The bench will hear the appeals on June 24.
Nasscom has urged Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy for his immediate intervention on the issue of bike taxi operations in the state, following the Karnataka High Court’s recent judgment prohibiting aggregator-based bike taxi services in Bengaluru, effective from June 15.
In its submission, Nasscom has urged the state government to provide interim relief by extending the June 15 deadline to prevent largescale livelihood disruption, while simultaneously initiating a consultative process to develop a balanced regulatory framework for a long-term solution.
Drawing from existing models in Delhi, Telangana and Rajasthan, Nasscom reiterated its commitment to work closely with the government to craft a forward-looking policy that supports innovation, ensures commuter safety, and promotes inclusive growth.