Woman Riding Bike Taxi Dies In Accident, Case Filed Against Uber Directors

Police have registered a case against the directors of vehicle aggregator Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd for allegedly violating government regulations following the death of a woman customer riding a bike taxi in the city, officials said on Wednesday.

A "private vehicle" was being used in this case in violation of the rules notified by the government while granting the permit for bike taxi service, as per the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Navghar police station on Monday.

The FIR was based on a complaint filed by Motor Vehicle Inspector Ravindra Gawde of the Maharashtra transport department.

A query sent to Uber India Systems seeking a comment did not receive immediate response.

As per the police, a cement mixer truck driven by Jawahir Bashraj Yadav (40) crashed with a motorcycle ridden by Uber 'rider partner' or driver Ganesh Vishram Madhav under the Airoli flyover on the morning of November 29.

While Ganesh was injured, Shubhangi Magare, who had booked his bike taxi and was riding pillion, died.

While an FIR for rash driving was registered, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) conducted separate investigation, and found that while Ganesh had registered an Activa scooter owned by his uncle while registering on the Uber bike taxi platform, he actually used his own motorcycle for ferrying passengers.

Further, the Activa had been allegedly registered in violation of the permit granted to Uber India under the Motor Vehicles Act and Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules, 2025, and Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020, the complaint said.

The FIR was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 223 (disobedience to a lawful order issued by a public servant) and relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

No arrest has been made in the case.

Notably, only 100 bike taxis have been registered in Mumbai in the last two months after the State Transport Authority (STA) granted provisional licences to three major aggregators, as per official data.

A senior RTO official told PTI that 50 electric bike taxis each of Rapido and Uber were registered at the Wadala RTO in September. All these vehicles are BGauss electric scooters, making them the only two-wheelers formally registered as bike taxis in the city so far.

As mandated in the rules, these bike taxis are painted yellow and have yellow number plates with black letters.

Earlier this year, the STA approved provisional licenses for the parent companies of Ola, Uber and Rapido under the Mumbai Bike Taxi Rules 2025, allowing them to operate bike taxis across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Union leader Dr Keshav Nana Kshirsagar, president, Maharashtra Kamgar Sabha, alleged that the transport department has been filing cases selectively.

Several FIRs were registered but it did not improve the way the bike taxi services are being operated, he claimed.  

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)