Bombay High Court compels Rapido to shut operations in Maharashtra as it was found to be functioning without permit

Bombay High Court compels Rapido to shut operations in Maharashtra as it was found to be functioning without permit

The Bombay High Court in the case of Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd. and Anr. v. State of Maharashtra by its division bench comprising of Justices G.S. Patel and S.G. Dige, while hearing Roppen's petition against the government's communication dated 29 December, 2022 refused to allow the bike taxi aggregator a licence as there was no policy for such service, and would dismiss the petition with costs if the firm continued with its operations without permits.

Roppen Transportation, the operator of the Rapido Bike Taxi service, on 12 January, 2023 submitted an undertaking to the Bombay High Court that it was discontinuing its operations in Maharashtra till January 20 after the latter made some strong observations against the bike operator.

The court was hearing Rapido's plea challenging the state's refusal to grant licenses to entities like it. During the hearing, Advocate General Dr. Birendra Saraf insisted that if the petition is to be entertained, the petitioner be required to undertake that it will shut down its services first.

The Advocate General informed the court that a committee has been set up to explore the formulation of guidelines for bike taxis in the state on 12 January, 2023. Further, state is in the process of initiating prosecution against entities like Uber who are operating bike taxis, he said.

The petitioner during the earlier hearings had argued that it is facing discrimination against as Uber etc. continued to offer the same service of bike taxis but are protected by status quo order.

The court highlighted that there was a major flaw in the petitioner's case as it was continuing to operate its services despite not having proper licence for its operations. The court has kept all the contentions open for further consideration and listed the matter for January 20, 2023.

The state earlier in a notification dated 29 December, 2022, had stated that there was no scheme for bike taxis and no fare structure policy which exists.

The court in an earlier order was unconvinced by the State's reasons to refuse bike taxi licenses and had said "Nobody seems to have applied their mind to the evident advantages from various perspectives including reducing traffic congestion, pollution reduction and efficiency in transport by allowing bike rider systems. We expect that these will be made subject to certain safety requirements that must be followed but that is hardly a reason for rejecting the entire proposal in this fashion."

Roppen's undertaking came after the High Court took strong stand point to the firm continuing with its app-based bike-taxi, three-wheeler (autorickshaw) and other services. The company has now deactivated its app in the state.