Karnataka High Court orders bike taxis including Rapido to stop operations

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday ordered bike taxi aggregators, including Rapido bike taxis, to halt their operations in the State within six weeks. .Justice B Shyam Prasad passed the order while disposing of petitions filed by the parent company of Rapido, Ropeen Transportation Services Private Limited, as well as other taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola (ANI Technologies)..The petitioners had sought directions to legally recognise bike taxis by permitting the registration of such vehicles (with Internal Combustion Engines/ ICE) as transport vehicles.Among other prayers, the Court was also urged to direct the authorities to implement a legal framework for bike taxis.Rapido, which had already been providing bike taxi services, additionally sought directions to restrain the authorities from interfering with their business..In April 2022, another Bench comprising Justice Jyoti Milimani granted the petitioners interim relief by restraining the authorities from taking any coercive action against the petitioners. This interim relief had been continuing till today, enabling Rapido taxis to continue its operations. .Justice Prasad first heard the matter in 2023. Today, he held that the Court can not order the State to frame regulations as sought by the petitioners.The Court observed that the State had earlier set up a committee to examine if motorcycles should be permitted to operate as bike taxis. In 2019, this committee advised against allowing bike taxis in Karnataka. The Court concluded that unless the State decides to make a policy change and frames rules and guidelines under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, to permit bike taxis, such vehicles cannot be operated as bike taxis in Karnataka. "If the petitioners do not have a crystallized right under the MV Act, if the Experts’ Committee has opined that Bike-taxis must not be permitted in Bengaluru and if the specific rules are not in place, this Court cannot direct the State Government, notwithstanding its policy decision, to continue permitting the petitioners to operate as Aggregators for Bike-taxis," the Court ruled. It, however, also called on the State to consider whether it needs to change its present policy. "This Court must observe that the State Government must be alive to the emerging circumstances and the evolving local conditions, and it cannot shut itself to the possibilities of the emerging trends and technologies. If the circumstances justify a new approach, the State Government should not lag behind and it should be open even to the petitioners, to goad the State Government to such a change. This Court should in this context muse, as it is famously said, that an institution which refuses change becomes the architect of decay," the Court said. .The Court, further, noted that Rapido has already been plying bike taxis in Karnataka and may need time to halt its operations. Therefore, it gave bike taxi aggregators, including Rapido, six weeks of time to stop such operations. "The petitioners, [M/s Uber India Systems Private Limited, M/s Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited and M/s ANI Technologies Private Limited] are permitted six [6] weeks from today to cease all their operations as aggregators of Bike-taxis. The State Government is called upon to ensure that all Bike Taxi Operations are stopped after these six [6] weeks," the Court ordered. .Senior Advocate Srinivasan Raghavan, and Advocates Y Sankeerth Vittal, Anupama Hebbar, Dharshini S, Abdul Hadin appeared for Uber. Senior Advocate Prof. Ravi Verma Kumar and Advocate AV Nishanth appeared for Rapido.Senior Advocate Arun Kumar K and Advocates Faisal Sherwani and Aditya Vikram represented Ola.Advocate PN Manmohan appeared for individuals who owned motorcycles and registered their vehicles with Uber, Rapido or Ola so that they could be plied as bike taxis. .Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, Special Government Advocate Mahesh Choudhary, and Advocates Rashi Singh and Krishnika Vaishnav represented the State. .[Read Judgment]