Will suspend bike taxi operations till Jan 20: Rapido to Bombay High Court

A statement by RTSPL’s advocate Fereshte Sethna said it had brought to the HC’s notice that the state government has formed a committee to examine matters pertaining to policy concerning bike taxis. It said show-cause notices have been issued to Ola and Uber in connection to their bike taxi operations in the state.

“In the interim, the Bombay High Court has accepted Roppen’s ‘without prejudice’ undertaking to discontinue operations in the State of Maharashtra, until January 20, 2023. All rights, remedies, and contentions of Roppen are kept open to be heard on January 20, 2023,” read a statement by Advocate Sethna on Roppen’s behalf.

On December 27, Pune RTO had included the names of Rapido’s co-founder and legal advisor in the FIR that was registered in November against the company for “illegally” operating in Pune. Sections pertaining to cheating and abetting a crime have also been added to the FIR.

In the FIR, RTO officials had said that despite the RTO rejecting the aggregator license, Rapido’s officials were making statements on social media that could disturb peace in society. They said the taxi bike service was encouraging use of private vehicles for public transport and thereby cheating owners of the vehicles and also the state government by not paying any taxes.

Earlier, a series of protests were held by auto-rickshaw unions in the city to demand that Rapido’s bike-taxi service be banned in Pune as it was illegal.