The Karnataka High Court has taken strict steps against the bike taxi service. The High Court has refused to give interim relief for bike taxi services in the state, giving a major setback to aggregator companies like Ola, Uber and Rapido. The bench of the High Court made it clear that currently these services could not be allowed to be operated in the state. The court has asked the state government to issue directors about it.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice V. Kameshwar Rao and Justice Srinivas Harish Kumar has issued notices to the state government and other aspects in this matter. He has been asked to file his reply by 20 June. Now the next hearing of this case will be held on 24 June.
Ola and Uber appealed
ANI Technologies (Ola) and Uber India have challenged the order in the Karnataka High Court stating that bike taxi services like Rapido and Uber cannot run until the state government makes rules under the Motor Vehicles Act. On behalf of companies, senior advocate Dhyan Chinnappa said in the court that the High Court has already agreed that a two -wheeler can be used for transportation. At the same time, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty on behalf of the state government said that such services can run only when a formal policy is made for him.
Uber’s lawyer argued that if the state does not have rules, bike taxi services may continue under central rules. But AG Shetty disagreed with this and said that these services cannot be allowed to run until the state itself makes rules.
Bike taxi services may be discontinued in Karnataka from June 16
Justice B. On April 2, Shyam Prasad directed in an order that all the bike taxi services running in Karnataka be closed within six weeks. Later this deadline was extended to 15 June. In such a situation, these services are expected to be closed in the entire state from 16 June. Rapido told the court that this ban would affect the livelihood of more than 6 lakh people in the state. The company said that its 75% of the riders have the main earnings from this platform and they earn an average of ₹ 35,000 per month. The company claims that it has so far paid more than ₹ 700 crore to its riders and has deposited GST of ₹ 100 crore only in Bengaluru.
