Delhi Bike Taxi Ban: 40 Drivers Approach Delhi Transport Minister Seeking Relief

A group of 40 bike taxi drivers have sought Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot’s intervention against any enforcement or action by the city government against them.

The Delhi government launched a crackdown against the bike taxis in February, following which a prolonged legal tussle ensued in the Delhi High Court. Now that the Supreme Court has stayed Delhi HC’s order providing some relief to the likes of Rapido, Uber and Ola, the drivers are looking at another period of uncertainty.

In a memorandum submitted to Gahlot’s office, the group said the Delhi government is adamant about banning their services. The document also said that while the delivery services continued without a hitch, the bike taxi drivers were being ‘targeted’.

The memorandum, similar to the one submitted by a group of bike taxi drivers to Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, read that the drivers would face difficulties in meeting household expenses, getting their children educated and getting their parents treated.

To recap, a Vacation Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal at Supreme Court stayed a Delhi High Court order dated May 26, that asked the Delhi government not to take any coercive action against the bike taxi drivers till a new aggregator policy was formulated, essentially lifting the bike taxi ban.

The Bench recorded the Delhi government’s submission that the final policy around bike taxi aggregators will be notified before the end of July. However, the Bench granted liberty to the aggregators to request an urgent hearing of their pleas by the Delhi HC.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Transport Commissioner Ashish Kundra said the government will write to bike taxi aggregators and appeal to them to comply with the ban or face action.

“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 ban comes despite Delhi’s transport department legalising them late last month, under the ‘Draft Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Services Provider Scheme’. The scheme, published on May 24, only allowed electric two-wheelers to be operated as bike taxis in the national capital.

Bike taxis have faced a tough time in Delhi recently, as the likes of Uber, Ola and Rapido continue to lobby for their continued operations in the national capital, calling on the government to engage in dialogue with them.

Earlier this year, Uber noted that people in Delhi took an estimated 20 Lakh trips on bike taxis every month. Further, the cab aggregator noted that more than 19 Lakh trips in Delhi NCR were between metro stations, which highlighted the need for bike taxis.

Delhi government’s draft aggregator policy does leave room for bike taxis, as does the Centre’s vehicle aggregator policy. However, the two policies differ on the electrification norms of bike taxi fleets, as Delhi’s policy introduces very short timelines for aggregators to comply.