NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Delhi HC order that essentially allowed bike-taxi aggregators to operate in the city by asking the Delhi govt not to take any coercive action against them till a new policy was formulated.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal, which stayed the court’s May 26 order, also recorded the Delhi govt counsel’s submission that the final policy will be notified by the end of next month.
The apex court was hearing two separate petitions by the AAP-led Delhi government challenging the HC order. Last week, it had sought a response from the Centre on the pleas. “An interim order staying the whole-scale operation of a statutory regime till the finalisation of policy was unwarranted and we stay both the impugned orders passed by the Delhi HC,” the SC said.
The apex court, while staying HCs order, also took note of the Delhi government's submission that the policy would be in place and the licensing regime would be operational by July 31, 2023. The court asked the state govt to deal with each application after the issuance of notification in a time-bound manner.
Delhi HC had stayed the February 19, 2023 notification issued by Delhi govt’s Transport department which also warned violators with a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh and suspension of license for three years. It had asked the Delhi govt not to take any coercive action against bike aggregators Uber and Rapido till notification of necessary regulations under the Motor Vehicle Act.