The Bike Taxi Welfare Affiliation of Karnataka met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi Saturday, urging his intervention for a coverage to control bike taxis within the state.
The delegation briefed the Chief of Opposition in Lok Sabha on their “livelihood disaster”. The affiliation has about 12,000 members in Bengaluru, and over six lakh bike taxi riders throughout the state, mentioned president Adi Narayan.
A press assertion issued by the affiliation said, “Rahul Gandhi patiently heard the delegation and guaranteed his assist to bike taxi drivers, most of them younger staff struggling to make ends meet. His assurance has ignited contemporary hope for over six lakh drivers and their households, reeling below a extreme livelihood disaster brought on by the suspension of companies.”
Members of the affiliation additionally submitted a letter to Gandhi, outlining their calls for: a coverage and rules for the operation of motorbike taxis within the state and resumption of operations with out the chance of any punitive motion towards riders till the coverage is established.
Though bike taxi companies akin to Ola, Uber, and Rapido resumed operation on August 21, they did so with out prior permission from the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom. The transport division is at the moment contemplating authorized motion towards the ride-aggregator platforms.
In April, the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom dominated that bike taxis are unlawful, citing that the state authorities had didn’t create a regulatory framework below the Motor Autos Act. The ban got here into impact in June after the excessive courtroom refused to remain the order that had directed that bike taxi companies in Karnataka be stopped inside six weeks.
Listening to a plea by ride-hailing platforms Rapido, Uber and Ola, the excessive courtroom on August 20 requested the Karnataka authorities to resolve whether or not to border a motorcycle taxi coverage, citing that there are “lives at stake on this matter”. Although the bench refused to cross any interim order allowing aggregators to function, bike taxi aggregators began their operations the subsequent day within the state.