Delhi Bans Bike Taxi Services; Uber Moto, Rapido Affected

The Delhi Transport Department has issued a public notice asking all bike taxi services to immediately stop operations. A public notice issued by the special commissioner of the Delhi Transport Department states that anyone who does so would be found guilty under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicles Act and face up to Rs. 10,000 in fines besides impounding of the vehicle. The Supreme Court will also suspend the license of the perpetrator for 3 months. The notice has also stated that digital platforms which provide two-wheeler services will be booked under section 93 and receive a fine of Rs. 1 lakh. This will lead to a large loss in revenue for companies like Ola, Rapido and Uber who provide bike taxi services.

Rapido was recently involved in a lawsuit with the government after it was discovered that the platform did not possess the appropriate licence for conducting its services. They later tried challenging the order but was rejected by the court. There have also been reports which state that the Delhi Traffic Police Department is already keeping tabs on online platforms like Uber Moto, Rapido and Ola to ensure that they comply with the rules and don’t repeat the offences. The Mumbai high court also banned vehicles with white number plates from operating as commercial trasport vehicles.

The government currently has plans to introduce new norms that will allow electric two-wheelers to be used by cab services in Delhi if they pass the appropriate safety regulations. However, these norms will take at least two to three months to be approved as it is still in the draft stage, which means that as of now two-wheeler taxis with any powertrain are banned in the city. Another city to introduce similar norms is Mumbai which banned vehicles with white number plates from operating as commercial transport vehicles in January 2023. There is no report about whether other cities will also follow suit or not.