Day after bike taxis return on roads, Karnataka High Court clarifies it didn't permit ride aggregators to resume ops

Bengaluru: A day after bike taxis resumed operations, the Karnataka High Court made it clear on Friday that it had not passed any order allowing ride aggregators to resume services. 

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru noted that the state government is free to take action against aggregators as per law but asked authorities not to "harass" individual owners. 

Hearing writ appeals on August 20, the bench had given the government time to decide whether to frame a bike taxi policy and adjourned the hearing until September 22. 

On Friday, Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty orally mentioned the matter before the bench and informed that aggregators had resumed bike taxi operations without any court order. 

Counsels for bike taxi riders, who were present at the hearing, told the court that authorities were seizing bikes belonging to individual owners. 

The bench stressed that it had only expressed concern about individual bike taxi owners/riders and that the government was requested not to take any precipitative action against them. 

"Don't harass them (individual owners/riders)," the Chief Justice told the Advocate General, who assured the court that there would be no harassment of individual bike taxi owners. 

The bench said the matters were posted for final disposal, and given their importance, no interim orders were passed. It reiterated that the government was given time to stipulate its stand on framing the policy. 

The appeals were filed by Uber India Systems, ANI Technologies Private Limited, Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd (Rapido) and others. 

On April 2, 2025, a single bench had ruled that bike taxi services cannot operate unless the state government notifies relevant guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act and the rules framed thereunder. 

It also held that the state government cannot be directed to consider applications for aggregator permits/licences.