Delhi Government Bans Bike Taxi Services by Uber, Ola, and Rapido, Violators to be Fined Rs. 1 Lakh

Delhi government bans Ola, Uber, and Rapido from providing bike taxi services as the govt. considers it a violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: February 21, 2023

The Delhi government has decided against Ola, Rapido, and Uber offering bike taxi services in the national capital. The govt. says that the service is in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, of 1988. It can result in aggregators bearing a fine of Rs. 1 lakh. The Transport Department of the Delhi Government put out a notice on this. The decision is taken because the commercial bike taxi service providers are using private bikes, which is against Two Wheelers Commercial Services.

The government has found that some of the app-based firms are not maintaining the regulatory standards and violating the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. In case of the first offense, the violator will have to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000. If repeated the second time, the fine will climb to Rs. 10,000 with imprisonment of up to a year. It is also possible for the driver to have the license suspended for 3 months.

If the firm in question represents itself as an aggregator, but the drivers use a private bike, then the fine charged will be Rs. 1 lakh to the service provider. In 2019, several amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act were announced. Here, it was also stated that aggregators will not be able to operate without a valid license. As a reflection to stand by the Delhi Government, the Supreme Court earlier this month did not grant relief to Rapido, a bike taxi aggregator.

The decision was in favor of Maharashtra Government in refusing to permit license to Rapido. The court noted that Motor Vehicle Act in 2019 clearly stated that the aggregators need a valid license to operate. Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala and a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud noted that on 21 December the Regional Transport Office in Pune rejected its plea as well.