The transport department has written to app based ride-hailing service provider Ola to stop its bike-taxi services immediately. The services were running on pilot basis for a week in Bengaluru.
The strongly worded letter comes after the Ola, TaxiForSure, Uber and OTU Owners and Drivers Association petitioned the department to take action against the aggregator as they claim that bike taxi services are illegal in Bengaluru.
“We have issued a notice to Ola to immediately stop bike-taxi services from their platform and explain why the services were introduced without bringing it to our notice,” said Narendra Holkar, Additional Commissioner of transport and Secretary of the State Transport authority. “I have directed the officials to seize such bike taxis and penalize them.”
Transport Commissioner VP Ikkeri said, “We are still working on a policy and sought the opinion of the stakeholders on whether bike taxi services should be allowed or not. Since a policy is not in place yet, action will be taken against those who continue to offer bike taxi services”.
Bike-taxis are quiet popular as they are faster and cheaper than any other mode of transport. Though, there is strong resistance from taxi-drivers and owners in Bengaluru. They have urged the government to stop this bike-taxi services. “It violates the Motor Vehicle Act as commercial services cannot be provided by vehicles with whiteboard”, said Tanveer Pasha, President of the OTU Owners and Drivers Association.