Ban-battered bike-taxi riders say struggling to make both ends meet

The bike-taxi ban in Karnataka has battered thousands of gig workers, as a major part of their income has disappeared.

About 150,000 bike-taxi riders were estimated to be operating in Bengaluru alone before the high court-imposed ban came into effect June 16. Since then, their income has come down by half, said at least a dozen such gig workers ET spoke with.

These workers on bikes typically operate across segments such as bike taxi, parcel services, food delivery and quick commerce. Since they can’t carry fare-paying passengers, many of them have…