BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar police will summon bike aggregators such as Ola, Uber and Rapido for alleged non-compliance with rules framed by the state government. Earlier, there was no provision under the Motor Vehicles Act to regulate bike taxis. However, as per section 93 of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, the state governments were asked to frame the rules and provide licences to bike taxis.
Accordingly, the Odisha government framed the guidelines/rules in April for the application of licences and commercial registration of bike taxis. The State Transport Authority (STA) reportedly held meetings five to six times with the bike aggregators and asked them to apply for the licences.
Sources said the bike aggregators applied for licences but they did not submit the required documents due to which the process could not be completed. STA reportedly sent them notices repeatedly and asked to stop the illegal operation of bike taxis but to no avail.
Sources said auto-rickshaw associations had threatened the Transport Department to launch a protest outside Naveen Nivas as they were sustaining huge losses because the bike aggregators operated illegally and provided services at cheaper prices.
In instances when RTOs took action against bike taxi drivers, the latter pleaded that they are financially weak and asked the authorities to engage with aggregators. The bike aggregators alleged there was no adequate system in the two RTOs of the city to facilitate the licencing and commercial registration process.
Later, one special counter was opened in the RTOs but still the aggregators did not apply for the licenses, said sources. “STA is not in a position to initiate action against bike aggregators as they have not applied for the licenses yet. As there is a possibility of development of law and order situation, police complaints were lodged against the aggregators,” said a senior official.
Around 7,000 to 8,000 bike taxis illegally operate in and around the capital city. “Saheed Nagar and Chandrasekharpur police stations have received complaints against bike aggregators for not complying with the rules. Employees managing the affairs of the aggregators will be summoned and information like the number of drivers they have and bikes having commercial registration will be sought from them,” said DCP Prateek Singh.