It has been less than a week since Ola and Uber’s bike taxi initiative was launched and it has hit a major roadblock. The taxi service companies who wanted to provide bike taxi service on a pilot basis are facing many legal issues in Karnataka. The major one being that motorcycles cannot be used for commercial purposes.
The transport department on Saturday seized an Uber bike taxi for illegally operating in the city. The officials laid a trap by booking the taxi on the Uber mobile app and when it arrived, seized it. A case has been booked against the owner of the vehicle, Chidananda, for using a non-transport vehicle for commercial purposes.
An official of the department said, "Despite warning of legal action they continue to operate bike taxis in city limits. We asked one of our officials to book a bike taxi on the app and he travelled some distance." During the course of the commute, the rider revealed that he was unaware of the illegality. Operating non-transport vehicle as commercial vehicle invites a penalty of Rs 5,000.
The official said an Ola bike taxi was also seized by transport department officials. "We have already urged the general public not to use these bike taxis till the aggregators register with regional transport authority. They not only charge illegal fare with no medical insurance cover available for pillion riders," the official told Bangalore Mirror.
Currently, only Goa and Haryana allow bike taxi services in India.
