Bike taxis have halted services in Karnataka.

The Karnataka High Court on April 2 ruled that bike taxis could not operate without guidelines framed by the state government under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The court gave bike taxis till June 15 to wrap up operations.

The abrupt halt could affect an estimated 75,000 to one lakh bike taxis operating in Bengaluru where services began in 2016.

Stopping short of an outright ban, the court effectively passed the buck to the Karnataka government. But, so far, the government is not considering any regulatory framework to allow bike taxis, seemingly due to opposition from autorickshaw unions.

On the other hand, Maharashtra might become the latest state to allow bike taxi operations.

On May 30, Maharashtra notified draft regulations for electronic bike taxis. After public feedback, the rules are expected to be finalised by July.

Bike taxis are a cheap way to commute, especially short distances in India’s traffic-choked cities with inadequate public transport. Days after bike taxis stopped operations in Bangalore, traffic congestion increased by at least 20%, showed data put out by the TomTom Index that measures mobility.

Yet, as the contrasting positions of Karnataka and Maharashtra show, the regulatory environment has been slow to catch up.

Mobility experts and ride aggregators told Scroll that bike taxis complement, rather than cannibalise, public transport. Their role as...

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