Karnataka withdraws ‘unsafe for women’ electric bike taxi services

The Karnataka government has banned the operation of electric bike taxi services in the state after finding it "unsafe for women" and being carried out in violation of Motor Vehicles Act.

A government order notified that the 2021 Karnataka Electric Bike Taxi Scheme has now been withdrawn. “It has come to our notice that certain private app-based firms are violating the Motor Vehicles Act and its rules and running illegal non-transport two-wheelers as the transport vehicles,” it said.

It also said there were often clashes between the owners and the drivers of auto rickshaws and "maxi cabs" with the bike riders and cases were also registered. The scheme made it difficult for the transport department to collect taxes.

Further, to maintain law and order and keeping in mind the safety of women travelling on two-wheeler bike taxis, the government has cancelled the scheme, the notification stated.

Tanveer Pasha, president of the Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association, welcomed the decision and said the then BJP government had in 2021 given permission to electric bike taxis in Bengaluru. “In spite of our opposition, the permission was not withdrawn. We had been agitating against this and even tried to explain to the government about the impact of this permission on auto and taxi drivers' life,” he said.

(With agency inputs)