Bike Taxi Ban: Will Impound Vehicles If Uber, Ola Don’t Comply, Say Delhi Authorities

A day after the Supreme Court overruled the Delhi High Court’s order allowing bike taxis to operate in the national capital, an official of the Delhi transport department on Tuesday (June 13) reportedly said that authorities would impound the vehicles of aggregators like Uber, Ola and Rapido if they continue to ply bike taxis.

“We will issue an advisory to the companies asking them to respect the court order. If they fail to do that, we will start impounding vehicles,” Ashish Kundra, principal secretary and commissioner for transport in the Delhi government, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The bike taxi aggregators should focus on passenger safety rather than chasing profits, Kundra said.

He was reported as saying that the companies such as Ola and Uber have gone beyond the regulatory framework and not following the law.

Last month, the Delhi High Court allowed bike taxi aggregators to continue to operate till specific regulations are notified. Following this, the Delhi government moved the Supreme Court.

While staying the Delhi HC’s order, the Supreme Court observed that the order was unwarranted as the Delhi government was in the process of formulating a policy for granting licences to bike taxi aggregators.

Earlier in February, Delhi’s transport department released an order banning all players from playing bike taxi services in the national capital. It also announced a penalty of INR 1 Lakh on aggregators found flouting the order.

The two parties have been embroiled in legal battles since then.

Meanwhile, the transport department published ‘Draft Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Services Provider Scheme’ last month and invited feedback. As per the proposed rules, the government would allow operation of bike taxis, provided the vehicles are electric two-wheelers.

“The Aggregator shall be allowed to operate bike taxi (two-wheeler taxi) services, provided that any vehicle being on-boarded as part of the fleet from the date of commencement of this scheme shall be Electric Vehicles only,” the draft said.

Delhi government also told the Supreme Court recently that the policy for providing licences to bike taxi aggregators would become effective by July 31, 2023.