BENGALURU: Withdrawal of the ‘e-bike taxi scheme’ in 2014 was not a study-based decision, but one that was taken because of ‘political reasons’ citing the law and order situation, argued the Bike Taxi Welfare Association before the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday.
The association stated that livelihoods of around 6 lakh families, out of 6.5 lakh riders, across the state would be affected because of the state’s decision not to allow the registration of two-wheelers as taxis.
The Association counsel made the submission before the division bench of acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice CM Joshi during the hearing of the appeals filed by the Association, taxi aggregators such as Ola, Uber, Rapido and also a few owners of two-wheelers.
The appeals were filed against a single-judge order on April 2, which held that taxi aggregators cannot offer bike taxis on their platforms unless the state government notifies relevant guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The Association counsel alleged that the withdrawal of the ‘e-taxi scheme’ in 2014 was for political reasons because of continuous confrontations between drivers of autorickshaws, maxi cabs and bikes taxi riders. It was also reasoned that bike taxis did not provide protection to women.
Instead of stopping bike taxis, the state government should have taken remedial measures if a law and order situation arose. Not registering two-wheelers as taxis under the Motor Vehicles Act and Karnataka Motor Vehicle Rules is a violation of fundamental rights, the counsel argued. The case was adjourned to July 2.