New Delhi: In a major development, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday ordered bike aggregators, including Rapido bike taxis, to halt their operations in the state within six weeks. Passing the order, a bench, headed by Justice B.M. Shyam Prasad, instructed the state government and the Transport Department to ensure that bike taxi operations cease within six weeks in Karnataka.

“Regulatory clarity is vital before allowing such services to continue,” it held. The court has also asked bike taxi aggregators Rapido, Uber, Ola, and others to halt their services within the stipulated period of 6 weeks.

Justice Prasad, dismissing the petitions, opined that the court cannot give directions to the state to frame regulations and it can’t order the state to register non-transport vehicles as transport vehicles. “The Transport Department cannot be directed to register motorcycles as transport vehicles or issue contract carriage permits for such services until appropriate government regulations are in place,” the bench said.

The bench rejected the petitions filed by the Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited, which owns Rapido, ANI Technologies owing Ola, and Uber Technologies owning Uber, seeking to legally recognise bike taxi services by permitting the registration of such vehicles.

The petitioners had also sought the directions to the authorities concerned to implement a legal framework for bike taxis. Rapido had sought directions to the government authorities from interfering with its business. The court stated that the bike taxi aggregators cannot operate in the state unless the government notifies relevant guidelines under Section 3 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, along with necessary rules.

Earlier, in April 2022, the bench headed by Justice Jyoti Mulimani had given interim relief to the bike taxi aggregators, directing the authorities not to initiate any coercive action against the bike taxi aggregators. The interim relief has been continued to date, enabling the operations of bike taxis.

The new development is considered a huge setback for bike taxi aggregator app Rapido.