Karnataka HC’s Bike Taxi Ban Challenged, Aggregators Say ‘They Are Necessity’

Ride hailing platforms and individual bike taxi owners challenging the state government’s blanket ban on bike taxis have reportedly argued in the Karnataka High Court that the service plays an important role in urban mobility and must be allowed to run under existing legal provisions.

Appearing before a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice C M Joshi, advocates for aggregators Ola, Uber and Rapido, as well as the Bike Taxi Welfare Association, challenged an earlier ruling that effectively outlawed bike taxi operations in the state, according to a PTI report.

“They are a necessity, not a luxury,” the petitioners said.

On behalf of Bike Taxi Welfare Association, advocate Shashank Garg argued that bike taxis serve as an essential function in easing traffic congestion and providing last-mile connectivity, during the proceedings.

Referring to the Karnataka 2021 E-Bike Taxi Policy, Garg added that the state has already laid the groundwork for such services and the current ban shadows a politically motivated action.

The development comes days after reports surfaced around Bengaluru Police detaining a group of bike taxi drivers for protesting outside the Vidhana Soudha, against the suspension of bike taxi services in the state.

The drivers were then seeking urgent government intervention to lift the blanket ban and introduce a regulatory framework to govern bike taxi services in the state.

Last week, a group of bike taxi drivers met Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Dasarahalli MLA S Muniraju to seek their intervention in resuming bike taxis in the state. The drivers also wrote open letters to CM Siddaramaiah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi. 

Meanwhile, a state bike taxi union has alleged that its members were harassed by auto unions and barred from protesting at Freedom Park in Bengaluru. As per Namma Bike Taxi Association, the move to ban the services has impacted 1.5 Lakh drivers in the state. 

Notably, Karnataka High Court banned the operations of bike taxis in April. Subsequently, ride hailing platforms like Rapido, Ola and Uber were asked to halt their operations by June 15. 

On June 16, Rapido Ola and Uber halted their bike taxi operations in Karnataka following the HC’s order. 

This isn’t a recent matter. It has been going on since last year when the then government withdrew the electric bike taxi scheme which aimed at improving first and last-mile connectivity from metro, bus and railway stations, as well as to create employment opportunities.

Back then, the government cited reasons like riders plying on the road with white board number plates, bitter confrontations between auto driver and bike taxi riders and reasons related to women safety to withdraw the e-bike scheme.