Synopsis
Karnataka government is considering a policy for bike taxi services. This comes even as the state challenges a High Court order allowing these services in the Supreme Court. The government cites technical flaws in the High Court's decision. Bike taxi operators have expressed concern over the lack of clarity.“It is not correct to link the two. Our special leave petition (SLP) in the supreme court has highlighted technical flaws in the Jan 23 judgment of the High Court. It has nothing to do with framing a policy, which we may still consider on a later date,” a top government source told ET.
The clarification came after the Bike Taxi Welfare Association wrote to the CM day before (April 21) expressing concern over the government taking the case to the SC instead of working on a policy. “The prolonged lack of clarity has pushed our community into a state of despair,” the letter said.
The state Congress government is treading cautiously on a matter that involves the auto unions and tens of thousands of bike taxi riders. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to chief minister (CM) Siddaramaiah in December highlighting the hardship faced by `six lakh’ bike taxi riders in Karnataka.
Gandhi’s letter followed a meeting with members of the bike taxi Welfare association in Delhi, before a division bench of the HC paved the way for the resumption of bike taxi services.
In his letter, Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, said that Karnataka is the only state where bike taxis cannot operate and requested the CM to form a policy balancing the concerns of all stakeholders, including the livelihood of bike taxi operators and last-mile connectivity for passengers.
In his response early January, Siddaramaiah told Gandhi that he had asked state transport minister Ramalinga Reddy to initiate the process of drafting a sound legal sound framework. The government, he said, remained committed to fostering innovation and employment.
Karnataka, in its SLP before the apex court, has said that the judgment of the single judge bench that’s been set aside had rightly observed that while motorcycles could potentially be registered as transport vehicles, this was at the state government’s discretion. By directing registration and permitting their operation as contract carriages, the division bench of the HC has disregarded the discretionary powers of the state, effectively engaging in judicial legislation.
The state’s decision not to permit motorcycles to operate as taxis is a regulatory measure rooted in public safety and transport policy, and cannot be characterised as an unreasonable restriction, the petition said.
In March 2024, the state government banned bike taxi services holding that ride-hailing platforms were not offering electric two-wheelers as required under the prevailing policy.
The operators petitioned the HC against the ban. Justice BM Shyam Prasad, however, ruled last April that ride-hailing platforms cannot offer bike taxi services until a policy is in place.
A division bench of Karnataka HC comprising chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and justice CM Joshi, on January 23, set aside that ruling following appeals by ride-hailing services, including ANI Technologies (Ola), Uber, and Rapido, as well as the Bike Taxi Welfare Association.
