SC Halts Operation of Uber and Rapido Bike Taxis in Delhi

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a stay on the operation of bike taxis in Delhi, overturning the orders of the Delhi High Court that allowed aggregators to offer two-wheeler taxi services. The Delhi government had previously banned all bike-taxi operators in February, citing violations of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. The government warned that violators would face fines of up to Rs 10,000 and possible license suspension for a minimum of three years.

The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal, stated that the interim order staying the statutory regime until the finalization of the policy was unnecessary. The bench did not comment on the merits of the arguments presented by Rapido and Uber, two companies offering bike-taxi services, as it believed the high court should make the final decision after hearing all parties. The bench granted permission for the involved parties to approach the Delhi high court for an expedited hearing.

The Delhi government argued that allowing private motorcycles to operate as taxis contravened the Motor Vehicles Act and criticized the high court for not providing specific reasons for protecting the aggregators temporarily. The Supreme Court, in its order on Monday, also recorded the statement of senior advocate Manish Vashisht, representing the Delhi government, who claimed that the policy for licensing aggregators would be in place by the end of July.

The Union government, represented by additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain, stated during the proceedings that the central government's 2020 guidelines permitted private two-wheelers to be used as transport vehicles if the aggregators complied with the norms. However, the question of whether the Motor Vehicles Act allowed private owners of two-wheelers to commercially operate through an aggregator was deferred to the high court.

On June 9, the Supreme Court sought the Centre's position on bike-taxi aggregators operating in Delhi, following Uber and Rapido's argument that they should be allowed to operate based on the central government's 2020 guidelines. The aggregators emphasized that since the Delhi government had not established any regulatory framework, they were only required to comply with the Centre's guidelines.

During the proceedings, ASJ Jain clarified that the Centre's 2020 guidelines were subject to the statutory regime that states could establish, as public transport falls under the jurisdiction of the state legislature.

Representing the aggregators, senior counsels Kaul and Bhatnagar contended that both four and two-wheelers were allowed to operate as taxis according to the central government's 2004 and 2020 guidelines. They also expressed concern about the loss of livelihood for thousands of individuals if bike-taxi services were to be halted solely due to the Delhi government's failure to establish necessary regulations over the past four years.

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