Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik busts illegal bike taxi services

Mumbai: Leading from the front, Maharashtra’s Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik carried out sting operations of sorts and detected bike taxi services in Mumbai despite it being illegal due to the lack of proper rules and regulations.

Sarnaik booked a Rapido mobile application under an alias, and within 10 minutes, the driver arrived at the Shaheed Babu Genu Chowk near the Mantralaya and Vidhan Bhavan complex.

The development coincides with the ongoing monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature.

“I booked a ride from Mantralaya to Dadar using a different name. Within 10 minutes, the rider reached Babu Genu Chowk,” Sarnaik said.

The fare charged by the app was Rs 195.

The driver of the bike was caught unawares and was clueless about the identity of the person who had booked the service.

“I am the Transport Minister. These rules are made for your own protection,” he stated to the rider.

He also offered him Rs 500 as a goodwill gesture and clarified that no action would be taken against him.

Sarnaik also asked officials not to take any action against the driver. “The focus is to get to the people who are running such operation. Filing a case against a poor man like you won’t help,” he said.

It may be recalled, in January 2023, the Bombay High Court had asked Rapido to stop its operations in Mumbai.

“Despite the clear announcement in the new e-bike policy that only electric bikes will be permitted, it has come to notice that some bike taxi services are blatantly violating the rules. To confirm this, a Rapido bike was booked under an anonymous name from the Ministry premises, and this illegal service was caught red-handed."

“Government officials had claimed that “no unauthorized bike service exists.” However, the actual situation has proven to be quite different. Not only will strict action be taken against such illegal services, but an inquiry will also be conducted into the officials who provided misleading information,” he said.

Sarnaik said that the government is taking stringent measures for the safety of citizens and the enforcement of the law is the firm stance of the government.

Sarnaik (61), a four-time MLA from Ovala-Majiwada in Thane district, is a close aide of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the chief leader of Shiv Sena.

Incidentally, Sarnaik was an auto-rickshaw driver in Dombivli 1984-1989 before joining full-time politics.