Bike taxis are ubiquitous in the way they move in Indian cities. The success of ride-sharing, coupled with the ever-increasing demand of two-wheelers, has paved the way for bike taxis in India. However, this sector remains unregulated leading to safety concerns. In order to mitigate these issues, the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi recently imposed a ban on plying of bike taxis, citing violations of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. A similar ban was also enforced in Maharashtra recently on grounds of ensuring road safety of passengers as well as the general public.
Ranging from affordability to ease of manoeuvrability and faster commute, the reasons for buying a two-wheeler are many for Indian customers. Taking a cue from this, various shared mobility operators in the country introduced application-based two-wheeler shared modes for ease of transit across cities. The average fare for two-wheeler-based shared mobility in India is about Rs 10 as the base charge, followed by Rs 5 per kilometre on average. This is relatively lower than the fare charged by three and four-wheeler-based shared services. Easier manoeuvring through narrow by-lanes, lesser waiting time, faster commute and pocket-friendliness have popularised app-based bike taxis to meet the growing demands of last-mile connectivity in our cities and, therefore, it is a convenient option for many customers.
Need For Regulations
However, in the absence of appropriate regulations, there are concerns that bike taxis could lead to reckless usage of private vehicles for commercial purposes and, consequently, cause greater emissions. From a safety perspective, this could encourage unsafe driving behaviour in the pursuit towards profits, thereby endangering the lives of passengers, fellow drivers as well as pedestrians. This is evident from examples such as Lagos in Nigeria, where commercial usage of motorcycles was banned as motorbikes were found to be causing almost 50 percent of all traffic accidents and almost 44 percent of criminal activities. In many Latin American countries, while bike taxis are not outrightly banned, there is no legal recognition for them in the local regulations, mainly due to concerns related to their safety as a mode of transport.
In the Indian context, the intent of recent bans does not seem to be to altogether dismiss bike taxis as a mode of transport. Rather, they are geared towards improving the regulation, safety and sustainability of this mode of transport. For example, Delhi is presently developing a new regulatory framework which would permit only electric two-wheelers to ply as bike taxis.
Therefore, a comprehensive policy regime in terms of regulatory, safety and sustainability is required, which not only facilitates the growth of this mode of transport but also ensures adequate measures to check misuse and ensure road safety.
Regulatory Measures To Be Considered:
* The usage of bike taxis should be restricted to only first and last-mile connectivity purposes. The permit conditions of these bike taxis can be formulated in a manner to restrict them from plying on arterial roads only. This is also required to ensure that these vehicles do not compete with the other modes of public transport viz. buses, metros, etc., but rather complement them.
* A strong licensing framework may be established which provides for service level benchmarks, discourages predatory pricing and levies restrictions on the number of such vehicles.
* These vehicles may be linked with the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) to integrate them with the other modes of public transport.
* Considering the potential proliferation of bike taxis in the future, it is critical to identify designated parking spots in the vicinity of bus stands, metro stations, etc., so that such vehicles are not parked on roads and footpaths.
Safety Measures To Be Considered:
* Formulation of comprehensive guidelines to ensure the safety of the passengers, including carrying of helmets for co-riders, first-aid kits, luggage restrictions, speed limitations, restrictions on the operational timings, and display of emergency numbers. etc
* Authorisation numbers should be conspicuously displayed on the vehicle to identify genuine service providers.
* The possibility of installing GPS tracking devices may also be explored as an additional safety measure.
Measures To Promote Sustainability:
* A discount on the license fee may be introduced for the bike taxis that run on cleaner and greener fuels.
* A clear roadmap with defined timelines may be developed to phase out polluting, unfit bike taxis and can be replaced with electric bike taxis.
* Increase in electric bike taxi demand would require a commensurate increase in the charging infrastructure, especially within neighbourhoods, as such vehicles would be providing first and last-mile connectivity.
A collaborative effort of all stakeholders can strengthen this low-cost and efficient mode of transport, which would be beneficial for the overall public transport ecosystem.
Vaishakhi Shah is Director and Lead for Public Transport and Sonia Arora is Associate Director, Economic Development and Infrastructure, PwC India. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
