With increasing traffic and congestion on Indian roads, especially in crowded areas of a metropolitan city, there are rarely any people who prefer taking their cars down the street. In today's fast-moving world where time is money, people are ready to give up on their comfort of travelling in a four-wheeler while wasting time stuck in a traffic jam and compromising on riding a two-wheeler to zip through the traffic and reach their destination faster. However, some of us might not feel comfortable driving a two-wheeler in heavy traffic. To our save, we were introduced to Rapido bike taxis operating on an effective business model, where they collaborate with bike and scooter riders to drop a customer to the desired destination. The service being inexpensive, proved to be beneficial for a two-wheeler rider registered with Rapido as well as the customer riding. Despite a significant value proposition for the public, recently, many Rapido Bike Taxis were ceased by the Road Transport Authorities in Bangalore, and here's why!
As bike taxi provider startups like Rapido became the people's choice for a cheaper and faster commute, they were prone to criticism from local taxi unions and autorickshaw drivers. Therefore, they went on a strike to condemn the use of personal bikes and scooters for commercial purposes. With the pressure of the ongoing strikes and protests against Rapido Bike Taxis, the authorities of Yeshwantpur RTO seized 120 two-wheelers within 4 hours registered under Rapido, booking them under the use of private registered two-wheelers for commercial purposes.
The transport authorities claim that the number of accidents involving 2-wheeler riders is increasing day by day. In 2021, bike taxi services offered by Ola and Uber in Karnataka were also put on hold because of the same reason. Further adding up, the complaints and petitions against these bike taxi services claim the ride to be uninsured for a customer and in case of an accident or loss of life, the bike taxis are not liable for insurance. Clearing the air, the authorities declared this activity to be illegal as a private registered vehicle was being used for commercial purposes, while cab drivers and autorickshaw owners were lawfully paying taxes with a yellow number plate studded on their ride, and these bike taxi riders would have to pay heavy fines in violation of this norm in near future.
With sheer disappointment over this incident, the co-founder of Rapido, Mr Pavan Guntupalli, finds this to be an invalid reason to harass bike taxi riders just because of the competition they pose to the local cabs and autorickshaws in terms of competitive ride fare. He proclaims this incident to be a clear case of rivalry between two segments of transportation despite Rapido abiding by the laws and operating as per the proposed government SOPs.
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