No bike taxis in Karnataka from June 16 as HC declines to stay order

The single bench had said that unless state government notifies relevant guidelines under Section 93 of the MVA and the Rules, bike taxi services cannot operate.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday declined to pass any interim order on the request of the aggregators operating bikes taxis. 

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao and Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar was hearing the appeals filed by Uber India Systems Private Limited, ANI Technologies Private Limited, Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd., challenging the single bench order.

With this, the bike taxis across the state are likely to stop operations from Monday (June 16). On April 2, the single bench had passed an order directing the bike taxi operators to stop bike taxi services within a period of six weeks. This period was extended till June 15, 2025.

The single bench had said that unless the state government notifies relevant guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Rules, bike taxi services cannot operate adding that measures are always open to the state government to frame such guidelines.

In their appeals, the aggregators argued that the Aggregator Rules already framed by the state government covers bike taxis as well and many states have allowed bike taxis. They requested the court to grant interim stay or extend the time granted by the single bench or issue direction to the effect that no precipitative action is taken against the bike taxis until the appeals are decided.

However, Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty objected to passing any interim orders saying that the aggregators have been operating without a licence, but solely on the strength of interim orders passed by the court.

The division bench observed that while the source livelihood and public transportation are issues for consideration, the prayer for a limited interim relief also cannot be considered in a scenario where the state submits that it is a policy decision not to frame rules.

The bench ordered notice to both the state government and the central government while directing the respondents to file their objections before the next date of hearing, indicating that no requests for adjournment will be entertained.

Background

The bike taxi aggregators had moved the single bench seeking a direction to the state government to permit the registration of motorcycles as transport vehicles having yellow registration plates in terms of the Motor Vehicles Act and Rules. 

On the other hand, the state government had contended that the applications for grant of licence for bike taxis cannot be considered as there is no provision to grant license for the motorcycle taxi aggregator under Karnataka on Demand Transportation Aggregator Rules 2016.