In a significant setback for bike taxi services in Delhi, the Supreme Court has stayed the Delhi High Court’s order that permitted bike taxi aggregators like Rapido and Uber to operate until specific regulations are formulated. The Delhi Government took the matter to the apex court after the Delhi High Court directed the transport department not to take any coercive action against Rapido and Uber until the final policy on bike taxis is notified.
A Vacation Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal heard the special leave petition filed by the Delhi Government and concluded that the stay order issued by the Delhi High Court was unjustified. The court noted that the Delhi government was already in the process of formulating a policy for granting licenses to bike taxi aggregators.
The Delhi government argued in its plea that bike taxi aggregators are currently operating non-transport vehicles, including two-wheelers, which is not permissible under the Motor Vehicles Act. The government also informed the court that the policy for licensing would come into effect by July 31, 2023.
This legal battle between the two parties has been ongoing since February 2023 when Delhi’s transport department banned all players from offering bike taxi services in the national capital and imposed a penalty of INR 1 lakh on aggregators violating the order.
Rapido, in its petition before the Delhi High Court, claimed that the transport department’s ban on bike taxis was arbitrary and lacked any justification or rationale. The company argued that the order violated fundamental and constitutional rights, as well as the principles of natural justice.
Meanwhile, the transport department recently published the ‘Draft Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Services Provider Scheme’ and sought feedback from the public. According to the draft, bike taxi aggregators would be allowed to operate under the scheme, but all vehicles onboarded after the scheme’s commencement date must be electric vehicles. The government aims to achieve 100% electric vehicle adoption for two and three-wheelers within four years from the date of notification.
With the Supreme Court’s stay order, the fate of bike taxi services in Delhi remains uncertain until the specific regulations and licensing policy are formulated by the government. Both bike taxi aggregators and commuters will have to wait for further legal developments in this matter.
