Bike taxi pilots seek Rahul, Siddaramaiah intervention ahead of ban from Monday
Bike taxi service providers on Sunday wrote to AICC leader
Rahul Gandhi
and chief minister
Siddaramaiah
to ease the ban on bike taxi operations in Bengaluru and the rest of Karnataka, days after the high court declined to stay an earlier order.
The ban on bike taxis will take effect on Monday as the court has ruled that they cannot operate in a policy vacuum, while lobbing the ball into the government's court to consider a set of regulations. On an appeal by ride-hailing services Ola and Uber, the court on June 13 asked the government to file its response by June 20 while posting the case to June 24.
'Over 1,00,000 gig workers in Bengaluru and across Karnataka are losing our right to earn and feed our families because of a blanket ban on bike taxi services,' the
Namma Bike Taxi Association
wrote to Gandhi and Siddaramaiah, saying they are relying on this income to feed their families, pay rent, school fees and medical bills.
Bike taxis were not their side hustle, but their primary income. They are also part of the informal big economy, the Association said, urging Congress leadership to include them in finding solutions while seeking a set of rules like those for autos and cabs.
The Association's letter follows a strong pitch by
Nasscom
in favour of bike taxis and urging the government to extend the June 15 deadline. The industry body has urged Karnataka to study the models in Delhi, Telangana and Rajasthan and support innovation.
'Arguments against bike taxis often mention safety, helmet quality, and accident risks. But instead of bringing in clear rules for licensing, training, and insurance, the Transport Department has chosen to ban our source of income with no consideration for the impact it can have on drivers. Earlier, an electric bike taxi scheme was brought out and taken back without consulting us. Such sudden decisions without consideration throw thousands of drivers into financial distress,' their letter said.
Karnataka's recent initiatives for gig workers, the Association said, gave bike taxi operators some hope, but the ban has broken that hope. 'What is the use of benefits if we are not even allowed to work? Passengers also suffer. Many use bike taxis for quick, low-cost rides. These are the only affordable rides for thousands, especially where buses are few. We do nearly 8 crore trips in a year.'
Be open to evolving tech
While ruling that bike taxis cannot operate in the absence of regulations under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Judge BM Shyam Prasad, in his judgment on April 2, also noted that the state government must be alive to the emerging circumstances and the evolving conditions in an obvious reference to people looking for multiple options of commute in Bengaluru.
'…it (the government) cannot shut itself to the possibilities of emerging trends and technologies,' Justice BM Shyam Prasad said in his 70-page judgment. 'If the circumstances justify a new approach, the state government should not lag, and it should be open even to the petitioners (Uber, Ola and Rapido) to goad the state government to such a change.' The judge further noted that '…an institution which refuses change becomes the architect of decay.'
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