The Karnataka High Court has orally indicated its inclination to grant a full stay on the state’s order prohibiting bike taxi operations. This observation was made during proceedings for petitions filed by major app-based aggregators, including ANI Technologies, which operates OLA Cabs.
The court cited the State government’s failure to frame a comprehensive policy for bike taxis, a requirement stemming from an April order that mandated aggregators could not operate without government-notified guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act. While arguments were presented regarding alleged contempt by aggregators continuing operations, the bench emphasized that the State had previously been granted a month to establish a policy. Subsequently, on September 12, the Karnataka transport department formed a 10-member committee to evaluate bike taxi policies in other Indian cities including Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
Source: indianexpress.com