Karnataka Government Seized 62 Bike Taxis of Uber

The Karnataka Government has seized 62 bike taxis from Uber for violating the Motor vehicles act  and continuing to operate without permission. The state government had already informed Uber that using bike taxis in not yet legalized in the state.  

Commenting on the same, State Transport Commissioner, Rame Gowda said, “ We have seized 62 Uber bikes (two-wheeler taxis, uberMOTO today (Friday) for operating illegally. We will take stern action against them (Uber) in accordance with the Motor Vehicles Act.” He also said the white number plated two-wheelers do not comply with the rules and the riders lack badges which a commercial vehicle rider should have. The transport commissioner has clarified that any commercial vehicle must first make an application to the Road Transport Authority (RTA) in their respective district or area to start business operations. He said a committee including the deputy commissioner of that district or area, RTO and SP or DCP as the members will consider the application and consider it as per the requirement.

Gowda further said, "Without doing all these things, it is an illegal operation. Everybody should know what they (Uber) are doing, what business they are doing, how they are conducting. Let them follow the rules, we are not coming in their way. It should be transparent. If anything goes wrong ultimately who is responsible. It is not fair on their (Uber) part." 

He added that the court will decide about the penalty to be applied or not. Reportedly, Ola has already stopped its bike taxis in the state, which could be the reason for Uber taxis being seized. When an Uber bike-taxi rider was questioned, he said that the company did not inform him that the service is illegal. 

Both the companies, Ola and Uber launched their bike taxi services a few days back, after which Ola stopped their two-wheeler service after the intimation from the government and even removed the option to book a bike taxi from its app. 

Presently, Haryana and Goa are the only states where bike taxis are legal. The final decision about the legalisation of these taxi services is yet to be made.