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Ride hailing platforms and individual bike taxi owners challenging the state government’s blanket ban on bike taxis have reportedly argued in the Karnataka High Court that the service plays an important role in urban mobility and must be allowed to run under existing legal provisions.
Appearing before a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice C M Joshi, advocates for aggregators Ola, Uber and Rapido, as well as the Bike Taxi Welfare Association, challenged an earlier ruling that effectively outlawed bike taxi operations in the state, according to a PTI report.
“They are a necessity, not a luxury,” the petitioners said.
On behalf of Bike Taxi Welfare Association, advocate Shashank Garg argued that bike taxis serve as an essential function in easing traffic congestion and providing last-mile connectivity, during the proceedings.
Referring to the Karnataka 2021 E-Bike Taxi Policy, Garg added that the state has already laid the groundwork for such services and the current ban shadows a politically motivated action.
The development comes days after reports surfaced around Bengaluru Police detaining a group of bike taxi drivers for protesting outside the Vidhana Soudha, against the suspension of bike taxi services in the state.
The drivers were then seeking urgent government intervention to lift the blanket ban and introduce a regulatory framework to govern bike taxi services in the state.
(The story will be updated soon)
The post Karnataka HC’s Bike Taxi Ban Challenged, Aggregators Say ‘They Are Necessity’ appeared first on Inc42 Media.
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