Bike taxi services resume, but Karnataka High Court clarifies no judicial nod given

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has clarified that it had not passed any order permitting ride-hailing companies to resume bike taxi services, a day after such operations were seen returning to city roads.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru observed that while the state government is free to act against bike taxi aggregators in accordance with law, enforcement authorities must refrain from targeting individual vehicle owners.

During a hearing on August 20, the bench had adjourned the matter to September 22, giving the government time to decide whether it intended to frame a policy on bike taxis.

On Friday, Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty informed the court that several operators had restarted services despite there being no judicial order permitting them to do so.

Counsel representing bike taxi riders countered, saying that enforcement authorities were seizing motorcycles belonging to individual owners.

The bench clarified that its earlier concern was limited to protecting riders and owners from undue hardship and urged the state not to take “precipitate action” against them. “Don’t harass the individual owners,” Chief Justice Bakhru told the Advocate General, who assured the court that no such action would be taken.

The court made it clear that it had not issued any interim order in the matter and that the appeals were listed for final disposal.

The petitions before the division bench were filed by Uber India Systems, ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd (Ola), Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd. (Rapido) and others.

Earlier, on April 2, 2025, a single-judge bench had ruled that bike taxi operations could not be permitted unless the state notified guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act and relevant rules. The order had also held that the government could not be compelled to process aggregator licence applications.