Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Delhi High Court’s order allowing bike taxis to operate in the national capital, the Delhi transport department has reportedly announced that it will impound the vehicles of aggregators like Uber, Ola, and Rapido if they continue to provide bike taxi services.
Ashish Kundra, the principal secretary and commissioner for transport in the Delhi government, stated that an advisory would be issued to the companies, urging them to comply with the court order. If they fail to do so, their vehicles will be impounded. Kundra emphasized that bike taxi aggregators should prioritize passenger safety instead of solely focusing on profits.
He further mentioned that companies like Ola and Uber have exceeded the regulatory framework and disregarded the law.
Last month, the Delhi High Court permitted bike taxi aggregators to continue their operations until specific regulations are established. Subsequently, the Delhi government appealed the decision in the Supreme Court.
In response, the Supreme Court suspended the Delhi High Court’s order, stating that it was unnecessary since the Delhi government was in the process of formulating a policy for granting licenses to bike taxi aggregators.
Earlier in February, the Delhi transport department issued an order banning all bike taxi services in the national capital and imposing a penalty of INR 1 lakh on aggregators found in violation.
Since then, the two parties have been engaged in legal disputes.
In the meantime, the transport department published the “Draft Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Services Provider Scheme” last month and invited feedback. According to the proposed rules, bike taxis would be allowed to operate only if the vehicles are electric two-wheelers.
The draft stated, “The Aggregator shall be allowed to operate bike taxi (two-wheeler taxi) services, provided that any vehicle being on-boarded as part of the fleet from the date of commencement of this scheme shall be Electric Vehicles only.”
The Delhi government recently informed the Supreme Court that the policy for granting licenses to bike taxi aggregators would come into effect by July 31, 2023.
