Bengaluru bike taxis: Did Karnataka HC allow their return? Court clarifies

The Karnataka High Court has clarified that it has not given any order allowing bike taxi companies to restart services, a day after such vehicles were seen back on city roads, PTI has reported.

A division bench led by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru said the state government is free to take action against bike taxi operators as per law but asked officials not to target individual vehicle owners.

The matter was last heard on August 20, when the bench adjourned it to September 22 to give the government more time to decide if it wants to frame a bike taxi policy.

On Friday, Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty told the court that some companies had resumed services even though there was no order permitting them. Lawyers for bike taxi riders argued that police were seizing motorcycles of individual owners.

The bench stressed that its earlier concern was only about preventing undue hardship for owners and riders. "Don't harass the individual owners," Chief Justice Bakhru told the Advocate General. Shetty assured the court that no such action would be taken.

The court also clarified that no interim order had been issued and the appeals will be taken up for final hearing.

The petitions were filed by Uber India Systems, ANI Technologies (Ola), Roppen Transportation Services (Rapido) and others.

Earlier, on April 2, 2025, a single-judge bench had ruled that bike taxis cannot be allowed until the government issues guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act. That order also said the government cannot be forced to process licence applications for aggregators.

(With inputs from PTI)