Maharashtra Government Approves Bike Taxis

The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government has given the green light to operate bike taxis in urban areas, including Mumbai and other cities, in what would be welcome news for the likes of Rapido, Ola and Uber.

App-based aggregators would need to have a fleet of at least 50 two-wheelers, for which a registration fee of ₹1 lakh will be charged. For aggregators with a fleet of over 10,000, the fee would be ₹5 lakh, according to the draft rules framed by the state government.

Bike taxis will be allowed to ply within a radius of 10 km in Mumbai and 5 km in other cities. All the bikes must be GPS-enabled, the draft rules state. Registration and basic training of bike pilots will also be mandatory for the aggregators. State transport commissioner Vivek Bhimankar said the government’s notification with other details is expected to be issued soon. “It will be an app-based fleet service and will prove to be convenient to the passengers,” he said, adding that bike taxis would help reduce traffic in cities. Mumbai has 2.8 million two-wheelers, including 600,000 scooters, as per the state government’s vehicle registration data.

Chief minister Shinde took the decision to approve bike taxis in a recent meeting after the state transport department told him that implementing the central government’s policy on bike taxis, rolled out in 2022, was imperative. The central government had given its nod to bike taxis two years ago, but left the framing of rules and awarding licences to state governments. While the Maharashtra government has now approved bike taxis, autorickshaw and taxi unions have opposed the move for various reasons.

“It is not safe; there is no control on the operation; the credentials and character checks of the driver are not verified. Our resistance is not because we are afraid of our business, but because of these uncontrolled operations,” said Shashank Rao, president of the Autorikshaw Chalak-Malak Sanghatana Sanyukt Kruti Samiti.

An official from the transport department said that a state policy on bike taxis would help regularise the sector and ensure passengers’ safety. “Maharashtra has not yet finalised the aggregator policy and issued the notification, despite which services are being operated by the aggregators. In case of any accident or mishap, the aggregators at present take no responsibility, saying they are just technology partners of the bikers. Our policy will help to regularise them and ensure the safety of the passengers.”

 Maharashtra would become the 13th state to approve bike taxis after the likes of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka.