All is not well for the bike taxi aggregators in India.
Previously, the government of Maharashtra refused to grant license to it and now even the Supreme Court refused to grant relief to bike taxi aggregator Rapido against the state government’s refusal to grant license to it.
Apex Court Denies Grant Relief
The bike taxis has been directed by the transport department that plying on the roads of Delhi would attract a fine of ₹1 lakh as it violates the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
As per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the use of 2 wheelers is for commercial purposes is a violation of the act.
In a public notice, the department said that the first offence could lead to a fine of ₹5,000 while a second offence could incur a ₹10,000 fine and imprisonment of up to a year.
Under the circumstances, the driver will also lose their licence for three months.
As per the notice, there are few app-based companies that are portraying themselves as aggregators in violation of the 1988 act. This will be punishable with a fine of ₹1 lakh.
As against the Maharashtra government’s refusal to grant licence to it, the bike taxi aggregator Rapido moved to the apex court to seek relief, however it was denied any grant relief.
Aggregators Cannot Operate Without a Valid License
It had noted that amendments made to the Motor Vehicles Act in 2019 made it clear that aggregators cannot operate without a valid licence. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala noted that Pune’s Regional Transport Office had rejected its plea for licence on December 21.
The bench said Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (Rapido) can challenge the state government’s January 19 notification which prohibited the use of “non-transport vehicle” from car pooling in Bombay High Court. It stated that the validity of the RTO’s December order would stand subsumed by the subsequent wider decision of the state government.
