Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court, on Wednesday, ordered bike taxi aggregators, including Rapido bike taxis, to halt their operations in the state within six weeks.
The High Court was hearing petitions by Ropeen Transportation Services Private Limited, the parent company of Rapido, as well as other taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola (ANI Technologies) that also operate bike taxis apart from four-wheelers.
Among other prayers, the petitioners had urged the Court to direct the state to implement a legal framework for bike taxis. The petitioners had also sought directions to legally recognise bike taxis by permitting the registration of such vehicles (with Internal Combustion Engines/ ICE) as transport vehicles.
They also prayed for a direction to the state authorities, restraining them from interfering in their business.
On Wednesday, Justice B M Shyam Prasad rejected the petitions and observed that the Court can neither order the state to frame regulations as sought by the petitioners nor can it order the State to register non-transport vehicles as transport vehicles.
He ordered the bike taxi aggregators to stop all operations within six weeks.
In April 2022, Justice Jyoti Milimani had granted the petitioners interim relief by restraining the authorities from taking any coercive action against them. This interim relief had been continuing till Wednesday.
