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Bike taxi ban in Karnataka
Starting June 16, bike taxis will no longer operate in Karnataka after the High Court refused to stay the state government's ban, dealing a blow to operators like Rapido and Uber Moto.
The ruling validates the Transport Department’s stance that such services are illegal under current laws.
The notice
A notice has been issued to the state government and others by a division bench, led by Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar.
The next hearing has been set for June 24, 2025, and all parties have been ordered to submit responses by June 20.
ANI Technologies Private Limited (Ola), Uber India Systems Private Limited, Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd (Rapido), and others had filed appeals challenging a single judge’s April 2, 2025, ruling.
Justice B Shyam Prasad instructed all bike taxi operations to stop within six weeks, a deadline later extended to June 15, 2025.
This means bike taxi services are expected to stop in Karnataka from June 16, 2025.
Rapido's claim
Meanwhile, Rapido argued that shutting bike taxis would impact over 6 lakh livelihoods in Karnataka, with 75% of its riders depending on the income, earning about ₹35,000 monthly.
The ride-hailing startup also said it paid over ₹700 crore to captains and ₹100 crore in GST in Bengaluru.
Court rejects appeal
The court rejected the appellants’ request to continue operations until the appeals are heard, noting the Karnataka government’s decision not to create rules for bike taxis.
Justice Rao declared that interim relief could have been considered if the state was working on rules, but not when it has decided against it.
What actually happened?
In 2022, the petitioners appealed to the court to allow motorcycles to be registered as transport vehicles and permit bike taxi aggregation. However, an interim order stopped the state from taking action against them.
Transport Department Secretary NV Prasad confirmed that rules for bike taxis will not be made, and further discussions with stakeholders have not occurred.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has not commented yet, while Commissioner Yogeesh AM said that personal two-wheelers cannot be legally used as bike taxis without a policy.