- Bengaluru commuters are adapting to a ban on bike taxis by using courier services instead.
- The Karnataka High Court deemed app-based bike taxi services illegal, prompting the ban.
- The state government has decided not to create regulations for bike taxis despite court suggestions.
Indian 'jugaad' - a Hindi word that loosely translates as 'unconventional and innovative' - is a wonderful example of creative problem-solving, and don't let anybody ever tell you different.
Remember the story of the Mumbai auto driver who earns as much as Rs 8 lakh a month without driving his vehicle? How? Well, think less auto rickshaw and more bag storage area.
Now there's a new story, from Bengaluru, where app-based ride aggregator Rapido seems to have cleverly replaced the banned 'bike taxi' service with a 'bike parcel' service, creating a business offering commuters hassled by traffic jams and poor road infrastructure have happily jumped (pun intended) on.
How? By booking themselves as a 'parcel' for intra-city couriers driving two-wheelers.
The apparent improvisation comes after the Karnataka government acted on a High Court directive to suspend operations of two-wheeler taxi services operated by app-based aggregators like Rapido.
The court had ruled these 'bike taxis' to be illegal.
READ | Bike Taxis Come To Halt In Karnataka As High Court Ban Kicks In
On Friday last, i.e., June 13, a division bench refused pleas from the companies behind the Uber, Ola, and Rapido apps to stay that ban, which is to remain in place till the state government notifies specific rules and guidelines for 'bike taxis' under the Motor Vehicles Act.
The court said it might be inclined to grant a stay if progress had been made towards framing those rules, but the state government dashed commuters' hopes by saying it had taken a policy decision to not frame such regulations. The court then set the next hearing for June 24.
READ | How Legal Battle Over 'BIke Taxis' Began In Bengaluru
In response to all of this, Bengaluru commuters have flooded social media with photographs and pithy comments about traffic in the state capital, a perennial and worsening issue.
"The bike taxi ban starts today in Karnataka...but the Product Owner at Rapido Bike app has already bypassed the law... can't book a ride? No worries - just parcel yourself to work... Call it: 'PaaS - Passenger as a Service'," an X user called Dhanvi said, with a screenshot of a 'bike parcel' booking.
Another X user, Amutha Bharathi, had the same idea.
"Karnataka High Court has Banned Bike Taxis around the state from today... Uber Renamed 'Moto' to 'Moto Courier'... Rapido Renamed 'Bike' to "Bike Parcel' Intelligent move..."
Many also decried the court and government's move as a "bad decision", highlighting that a "permanently gridlocked Bengaluru needs all available public transport options, including bike taxis..."
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