The ongoing legal confrontation between the Delhi government and bike taxi platform Rapido continues to unfold, as the Supreme Court entertains the UT government’s plea challenging a Delhi High Court order. Last week, the HC had stayed the Delhi Transport Department’s public order banning bike taxi services in the national capital. A vacation bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Rajesh Bindal has listed the matter for a hearing on June 7.
Representing the Delhi government, senior advocate Manish Vashisht argued that the HC’s decision to stay the policy amounted to practically allowing Rapido’s writ petition. The HC had previously barred the transport department from taking any coercive action against Rapido until specific norms for the bike-hailing sector were formulated, in response to a plea filed by Rapido against the government’s ban.
Rapido, in its petition before the HC, argued that the public order issued by the Delhi government was arbitrary and lacked reason or rationale. The company claimed that the government’s conduct contradicted the intent and object of the union government’s norms for issuing licenses to ride-hailing platforms. The plea also highlighted the absence of guidelines for bike taxis in Delhi and emphasized that the blanket ban on its services adversely affected the lives and livelihoods of its drivers and commuters.
Interestingly, just a week before the ban, the Delhi government had issued draft norms for bike taxi operators and sought public feedback. The proposed policy stipulated that bike taxis should only be allowed if they were electric vehicles, potentially rendering the entire fleet of two-wheelers used by ride-hailing platforms non-operational. The draft rules also imposed stringent conditions on bike-taxi drivers.
This clash between ride-hailing companies and local governments is not unprecedented. Earlier this year, Maharashtra banned Rapido and denied the company an aggregator license. The outcome of the legal battle between Rapido and the Delhi government will have significant implications for the bike taxi industry and may shape the regulatory landscape for ride-hailing services in the national capital.
