CHENNAI: Have you taken a ride on a motorbike, using a bike taxi app, as you do on Ola and Uber?
Then, little do you know that the bike taxi is illegal and there is no provision in the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle rules for a bike taxi.
Two weeks ago, Ola taxi drivers lodged a complaint with the Road Transport department that illegal bike taxis have increased in the city. Hearing the plea of the taxi drivers, Chennai (North-West) RTO S Sridharan seized 10 vehicles that were booked through a popular bike rental app.
“The risk factor in such bikes is high. Unlike Ola and Uber, where the drivers work on contract permit for a company, the bikers of rental apps have their own vehicles, with no accountability and safety to the rider,” said Sridharan.
“On Monday we booked a bike through the app and waited for the riders to arrive. The vehicle registration number that was given on the mobile app was different from the bike that arrived,” he added.
In the rental bike apps, most of the drivers are already working in private companies and surprisingly, some of them are already working for popular food delivery apps.
There are youngsters who depend on some income until they get salaried jobs. In order to make quick money, they are now getting into bike taxi apps not knowing it is illegal, said a police officer.
An individual taking a ride in a taxi is covered with insurance, road tax and proper permit, and moreover, if the driver tries to kidnap the person, it is easy to track the driver through documents that are accessed at the office of the company.
But in case of bikes, if the driver kidnaps the pillion-rider it will be much more difficult to trace since it is his own vehicle, said a Road Transport Officer from Coimbatore.
“Not knowing that the bike taxi apps are illegal in Tamil Nadu, many silver-screen celebrities and social media influencers promote these apps and rides through their social media pages,” said a senior police officer. Around 20 bikes were seized by different Road Transport Officers in different parts of the city.
Meanwhile, the co-founder of a Hitch Biker app told Express that their bikers were not booked since it is a bike-sharing platform, which encourages hitchhiking to reduce the cost of the travel to a particular distance.
“We don’t have commission or salaried riders. If you are staying at Mylapore and intend to reach Central station, the app will show some drivers who are ready to drop you and the rider will have to bear the transport charge alone,” he added.