Rapido Stops Bike‑Taxi Ops in Karnataka as HC Upholds Suspension Order

Ride‑hailing platform Rapido has suspended its bike‑taxi services in Karnataka following a directive from the Karnataka High Court.

In a note on its app, Rapido stated, “While we deeply believe in the value bike taxis bring to daily commuters, we respect the law and will fully abide by the directive.”

This follows the Karnataka High Court’s refusal to stay its judgement suspending bike‑taxi services effective 16 June 2025. For now, Rapido has halted bike‑taxi operations in Karnataka in favour of a “Bike Parcel” service, noting that it is working with authorities to restart bike taxis.

However, Ola and Uber bike‑taxi services were reportedly still operational in Bengaluru as of Monday morning.

Prior to the ban, the Namma Bike Taxi Association appealed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, urging them to intervene and halt the measure, citing severe impacts on thousands of gig workers across the state.

Karnataka HC Order

The ban followed the Karnataka High Court’s division bench refusing to stay a single bench’s 2 April order, which directed all bike‑taxi providers to halt operations for six weeks, later extended by a few weeks.

On 13 June, Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao noted that aggregators might have received interim relief if the state government had considered drafting bike‑taxi legislation. “However, in this situation the state government has clearly taken a policy decision of not being willing to establish a bike‑taxi policy,” he said.

Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy has declared that the government has no plans to establish bike‑taxi legislation and that white‑board two‑wheelers cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Several bike‑taxi operators and industry bodies, including the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), have urged the state government to lift the ban and implement a comprehensive bike‑taxi policy to support the livelihoods of numerous drivers dependent on these services.