Good news for Rapido, Ola, Uber as govt set to legalise bike taxis

Also read: Bike Taxis: Regulatory intervention is the need of the hour

According to the centralised database Vahan, the country has over 36 crore vehicles, including 26 crore two-wheelers.

A spokesperson from Rapido welcomed MoRTH's proactive stance, stating, "We find the recent advisory from the Centre to be incredibly encouraging, as it clarifies the legal standing of bike taxis, opening up new avenues for transportation and income generation."

He stressed the need for state governments to align their procedures and guidelines with the advisory to facilitate the issuance of contract carriage permits to motorcycles. "It's a pivotal moment for the industry, and with the right support, we can truly revolutionise transportation in India."

Also read: Uber India seeks support of Bengaluru users to legalise bike taxis

Other firms also welcomed it. Vivekananda Hallekere, co-founder of Bounce, welcomed the advisory, stating, "Many states refused to grant a rent-a-motorcycle scheme licence, citing that contract carriages can’t be given to two-wheelers. We had fought and made it happen across many states."

Abhishek Awasthi, Senior Partner at AZB and Partners, emphasised the importance of states following the advisory, saying, "It is clear from the advisory that two-wheelers are covered under the definition of Motor Vehicles."

Different rules

Currently, each state has different rules. In Karnataka, white-board petrol-run two-wheelers cannot be used for bike taxis, but the state government has introduced an electric bike taxi policy. Goa allows bike taxis with yellow number plates. Meanwhile, auto-rickshaw driver unions in multiple cities, including Bengaluru, have been opposing bike taxis, claiming they are illegal and impacting their earnings.

Also read: MC Explains: Why Supreme Court upheld the ban on bike taxis in Delhi?

A senior Karnataka transport department official told Moneycontrol, "We already have a Rent a Motorcycle Scheme, where we are issuing contract carriage permits to two-wheelers. But we are not allowing petrol-run bike taxis. But we recently received the notification from the Centre, and we need to come up with a policy to implement it."

In 2022, the Karnataka government had issued a bike taxi licence to Wicked Ride, the parent company of Bounce, to operate electric bike taxi services. The fare is fixed at Rs 25 for 5 km and Rs 50 for 10 km under the Karnataka Electric Bike Taxi Scheme, 2021.

While Bounce is yet to operate e-bike taxis, Ola recently started electric two-wheeler taxi services in Bengaluru without a licence. Other aggregators such as Rapido and Uber have also been operating petrol run bike taxis without licences.

According to the notification, contract carriage involves renting the entire vehicle for a fixed price based on either distance or time, with or without a specific route. However, it cannot pick up or drop off passengers at multiple points during the journey.

The advisory notification states, "It is clarified that as per Section 2(28) of the MV Act, vehicles having less than four wheels fitted with an engine capacity exceeding 25cc are also included within the definition of motor vehicles. Hence, ‘motorcycles’ shall fall within the ambit of Section 2(7) of the Act."

Also read: Why Karnataka's electric bike taxi policy failed to take off