Bengaluru: The state transport department has cancelled cab aggregator Ola’s licence for six months for operating bike taxis under the same licence. The cab aggregator will have to submit its licence within three days from Friday (when it received the order). Hence booking an Ola from Saturday would be illegal.
The use of bike taxis is illegal in the state and the department has earlier issued notice to Rapido, another bike taxi service. It is also not clear under which licence Rapido was operating.
Transport department officials said they had recently issued show-cause notice to Ola for use of bike taxis, but it had failed to respond.
Bike taxis in the city was also opposed by BMTC and other cab operators, as they contend that it was affecting their revenue.
Ola, Taxiforsure and Uber Drivers and Owners Association President Tanveer Pasha told Deccan Chronicle, “Ola was violating the state’s laws by running commercial and non-commercial bike taxis in the state. It cannot run any vehicle on its platform, as per the rules. But they did not bother to follow it. They ran bike taxi service using private own-use vehicles.”
The transport department order issued to Ola stated, “According to Section 11 (1) The Karnataka On Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules 2016, the Transport Department can decide to cancel the licence of the cab aggregator as there is a violation of rules.”
Pasha said, "People should now use Uber to book cabs. Ola is a law unto itself and they don’t listen to anyone. We used to have frequent fights with Ola management. But now the government itself has acted. It is also a wake-up call for Uber to follow rules. If they too violate rules, the government should take action against Uber also.”
Though bike taxis are currently illegal in the state, the Transport Department is working on a policy with stakeholders to decide whether bike taxis can be allowed in Bengaluru city, if not the state.
Currently only Goa and Haryana have allowed bike taxis. To obtain a bike taxi licence the vehicles need to be commercially insured and they should have yellow background number plates. They also need to follow certain safety regulations.
