HC asks Maharashtra govt to inform about final decision on bike taxi aggregators

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to inform within a week when it intends to take a final decision in regard to the two wheeler or bike taxi aggregators license application and what arrangement it intends to make in the meantime.
The state government must also indicate what transitional provision it proposes to make and within what time, the HC said.
The HC bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice S G Dige said, "Outside Mumbai, and in fact even in the northern suburban of Mumbai, two-wheeler transport is by far the norm and is a matter of great convenience. We see no reason why the government should not seriously consider it. “
The bench also said, "Understand that the state government may need some time to formulate a policy. But it is certainly not entirely out of contemplation and cannot be that until a final policy is formulated a temporary or pro-tem working arrangement can be made perhaps even on a without prejudice basis.”
The bench said, “Nobody seems to have applied their mind to the evident advantages from various perspectives including reducing traffic congestion, pollution reduction and efficiency in transport by allowing bike rider systems. We expect that these will be made subject to certain safety requirements that must be followed but that is hardly a reason for rejecting the entire proposal in this fashion.”
The HC order was on a petition by Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd. It had challenged the refusal by the state government to allow entities like the Petitioner, a two-wheeler bike taxi aggregator license.
Before the HC senior counsel Aspi Chinoy for the aggregator had pointed out that the state’s refusal was “contrary to a declared policy of the Government of India through the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.”
In Form III which is a proforma for a license for an aggregator an item 5 contemplates the aggregator using motorcycle. The form says that on being satisfied that the applicant has complied with all conditions specified for a grant or renewal of a license under the guidelines, the competent authority shall issue a license to the applicant in the form in question, noted the HC in its order.
The policy is said to be in force in the state of Maharashtra. It was therefore Chinoy’s submission that the policy as issued by the Central Government and as applicable in Maharashtra specifically contemplates the use of motorcycles.
Further, Clause 15 allows the aggregation of non transport vehicles by aggregators. Therefore, if two wheelers are said to be not transport vehicles, they are nonetheless allowed to be used for aggregation purposes.
The state government’s communication of 29th December 2022 says that there is currently no State Government policy on licensing of bike taxies and there is no fare structure policy for bike taxies.
The HC order added, “lt also says that vehicles used for passenger transport are private and therefore violate “Sections 66/992(a)” of the Motor Vehicles Act. But the policy itself contemplates use of non-transport vehicles for aggregators and a lack of policy is hardly an answer. The ultimate decision then says that there is no such scheme of a bike taxi and there is no fare structure policy in place. It also says that various rules are not complete, and so on.”
The HC said, “These reasons" by the state “are less than persuasive at this stage.”
“We do not see how the impugned decision can be selectively applied in this fashion,” said the HC after Chinoy submitted that another similar aggregator has obtained a status-quo order from the Supreme Court in April 2022. The HC observed if exact same service is being provided “then the status-quo order passed by the Supreme Court must obviously extend to the Petitioner as well.”
Further hearing in the matter will now be on January 10.