Maharashtra transport minister Pratap Sarnaik wrote to the state’s cyber crime department seeking immediate shutdown of app-based bike taxi services run by Ola, Uber and Rapido. He also called for filing FIRs against the owners and management of these companies.

In a letter written to the additional director general of police (ADGP), Maharashtra Cyber, Sarnaik alleged that these passenger transport services were operating across Maharashtra without valid permissions, government approvals, or compliance with transport department regulations.

“The online operations of unauthorised bike taxi apps run by Ola, Uber and Rapido should be stopped immediately,” the minister said in the letter, while also calling for stern action against the companies, drivers and management under the IT Act and the Motor Vehicles Act.

The letter further stated that the growing number of unauthorised bike taxis, particularly those linked to Rapido, have become a serious public safety concern. It alleged that these services lacked adequate safeguards such as driver verification, insurance coverage, women’s safety mechanisms and emergency response systems.

Citing safety concerns, the minister also referred to a road accident from last February involving an unauthorised bike taxi near Mumbai Link Road, which resulted in the death of a woman. 

According to the letter, an FIR was registered at Navghar Police Station in connection with the incident.

The transport minister further argued that the platforms were carrying out commercial operations in violation of transport regulations, adversely impacting the livelihoods of licensed autorickshaw and taxi drivers across the state.

“The state government is committed to citizens’ safety and will not support any unauthorised system violating the law,” Sarnaik noted in the letter.

App Aggregators’ Troubles In Maharashtra

This is not the first time action has been taken against ride-hailing platforms in Maharashtra, as the state’s bike taxi dispute has witnessed multiple policy reversals, legal battles and enforcement crackdowns over the past few years.

The issue first escalated in January 2023 when the Maharashtra government banned the use of private two-wheelers for app-based bike taxi services, declaring operations by Ola, Uber and Rapido illegal in the absence of a formal policy framework.

Despite the ban, aggregators allegedly continued operating in cities such as Mumbai, resulting in vehicle seizures and FIRs. 

The conflict intensified further due to opposition from autorickshaw and taxi unions, which argued that bike taxi operators were functioning without the same regulatory burden as them and undercutting traditional fares.

In an attempt to regulate the sector, Maharashtra notified the “Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules, 2025” in July last year, allowing licensed bike taxi operations in cities with populations above 1 Lakh under a regulated framework. Following this, the State Transport Authority granted provisional licences to Uber, Ola and Rapido in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) with regulated fares based on the Khatua Committee formula.

However, less than six months later, in March this year, the state reportedly revoked the temporary licences, alleging repeated violations, including the use of petrol-powered bikes instead of mandated EVs, harassment complaints and failure to submit required documents. 

Sarnaik said then that the licences could be restored if the companies comply with the rules and submit the pending documents.

In a related development, the Karnataka government recently moved the Supreme Court against a January 23 Karnataka High Court order that allowed bike taxi operations in the state. The HC ruled that bike taxis were a legitimate mode of transport and directed the state government to issue permits for their operation as contract carriages with yellow number plates.

The issue continues to remain contentious across states, even after the Centre revised the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines (MVAG) in 2025 to allow bike taxi services. However, the final decision on allowing and regulating these services still lies with individual state governments. 

 

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