Rapido has rolled out a new non-profit feature called 'Bike Direct' to support riders.
Credit: DH FILE PHOTO
Bengaluru: As the bike taxi row intensifies, Rapido has rolled out a new non-profit feature called 'Bike Direct' to support riders, even as Uber and Ola discontinued their bike taxi services.
Rapido said the feature would be “completely free of cost in Karnataka, with no incentives or charges for bike taxi captains”.
The move comes four days after the Karnataka High Court said that it had not passed any order allowing bike taxi aggregators to operate in the state. It had clarified that while the government could act against aggregators, it must not harass individual riders.
“While the High Court permitted captains to operate independently, no one was able to secure bookings due to the absence of a dedicated infrastructure or platform. Rapido has stepped in purely as a livelihood support measure. Bike Direct is not a commercial service and does not mark Rapido’s return to bike taxi operations,” a company spokesperson said.
Until August 25, Rapido charged riders a platform fee and GST.
“On Monday, we were told there is no fee. This is a relief after two months of struggling without bike taxis,” said Balaji, a 58-year-old rider.
Transport Commissioner Yogeesh AM said the department had not received any intimation about Rapido's new feature.
“No one has reached out to me regarding this. We are currently collecting data to raise all bike taxi violations that have happened in the last week to present in court. Whatever the aggregator platforms have to say, it must be directed towards the High Court and not the transport department,” he said.
Uber and Ola did not respond to calls from DH.