Ola, Rapido illegal says Karnataka Govt !

Karnataka govt has termed Ola Rapido’s bike-taxi service illegal. Sources in the regional transport office said ,  Transport Department officials have impounded close to 200 bikes for providing bike-taxi service through app-based platforms. The Transport Commissioner on Friday issued a notice to ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates Ola cabs, for operating bike taxis violating license conditions. The notice further states that "it has been confirmed that Ola Company has been repeatedly violating rules in Bengaluru".

• What’s the Story?

After several requests from The Ola, TaxiForSure and Uber (OTU) Owners and Drivers Association,  the Karnataka transport department has written to Bengaluru-based ride hailing platform Ola and
bike taxi startup Rapido to stop their bike taxi services immediately.
According to Motor Vehicle Act,  vehicles with white board cannot be used for commercial purposes and as the bike-taxi service is violating this rule with other serious security concerns , it has been termed illegal by the Karnataka Government and notices has been sent to several aggregators. It is worth mentioning that the govt. had declared bike-taxi service illegal back in 2016.

• What is next?

The state government is still mulling over whether bike taxi services should be introduced in the state. However, since the policy is yet to be decided, the government will take action against the players who offer such services. However, unnamed sources from Ola has reportedly countered by saying the pilot services were introduced only to understand the user response to the service and the data will be submitted to the government. Highly welcomed by middle-class office goers , Bike-Taxi services are now in the center of attraction and it will be interesting to see how it overcomes this challenge. Do you think the bike-taxi service should be legalized? Comment your opinion below.