'Ban on bike taxis violates fundamental right to trade'

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Cab aggregator Ola on Thursday told the Karnata ka High Court that the state government’s ban on bike taxi services vio lates its fundamental right to trade under Article 19 of the Constitution, reported Live Law. Article 19 guarantees fun damental freedoms, includ ing the freedom to practice any profession, occupation, trade or business, to citizens.

The High Court was hear ing pleas filed by cab ag gregators Ola, Uber India and Rapido against an or der by a single-judge bench on June 13 that upheld the Karnataka government’s decision to ban bike taxis in the state.

Advocate Arun Kumar, representing Ola’s parent company ANI Technologies, told the court that if the Motor Vehicles Act allows reg istration of motorcycles as transport vehicles, then the state cannot ban the op eration of bike taxis. Similar argu ments were presented by counsel for other ag gregators. The court will resume hearing the matter on Friday.

On April 2, a single judge bench of the Karna taka High Court ordered all bike taxi services to stop op erations in the state within six weeks. The court referred to an expert committee re port from 2019, which had considered the impact of bike taxis on traffic and safety. Unless the state gov ernment frames rules and guidelines to permit bike taxis, such vehicles cannot be permitted in Karnataka, the court had held.

The six-week deadline for bike taxis to stop operation in the state was set to expire in May. How ever, cab aggregators later urged the court to extend this deadline. Accepting the re quest, the High Court had allowed Ola and Uber to continue their bike taxi services till June 15.

The bench said it would have allowed the request had the state govern ment been in the process of framing rules. However, since the government had decided not to permit bike taxis, such an order could not be passed, it said.