The final guidelines and licensing policies for the bike taxi aggregators in the National Capital can be expected by the end of July.
Bike taxis of ride-hailing companies like Ola, Uber, and Rapido will be impounded in New Delhi if the service providers do not comply with the Supreme Court’s latest ruling that backed a ban on them, Delhi government’s principal secretary and commissioner for transport Ashish Kundra told Reuters.
“They have gone beyond the regulatory framework and are clearly on the wrong side of the law,” Kundra said; adding that the taxi aggregators should prioritize passenger safety over profits. The Delhi government will issue an advisory to such bike taxi service providers asking them to respect the apex court’s order, he said. However, the authorities in the National Capital will start impounding vehicles if Ola, Uber, and other bike taxi companies, fail to do so.
India’s top court on Monday stayed the Delhi High Court order that permitted bike-taxi aggregators to continue operations in the city and reinstated the ban. To recall, the Delhi government asked Ola, Uber, and other bike taxi companies to “immediately stop” providing two-wheeler rides in the city. According to a Reuters report, that cited a newspaper ad on February 19, the local authorities said to impose a penalty of up to 100,000 rupees on the companies and upto 10,000 rupees of fine and a jail term of up to one year on bike taxi driver for non-compliance.
Uber challenged the government’s order in the Delhi High Court last month, which allowed the companies to continue operating until the final policy governing them had been announced. The Delhi government then approached the Supreme Court against Uber and argued that the bike taxi providers violated local laws like needing a license to operate. Uber, on the other hand, argued that the ban hurts the livelihoods of its riders.
A vacation bench consisting of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal on Monday revoked the lower court’s order but gave the bike-taxi aggregators the freedom to request an urgent hearing of their pleas by the Delhi High Court. Meanwhile, the Delhi government has assured the bench that it will be announcing the final guidelines and licensing policies for the bike taxi aggregators by the end of July.
