Maharashtra has granted provisional bike licences to Ola, Uber and Rapido to operate bike taxi services in Mumbai, expanding the scope of affordable public transport in the financial capital of the country.
“The approval has been granted on the condition that these companies apply for permanent licences within a month, fulfilling all terms and conditions prescribed in the Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules 2025,” Maharashtra's State Transport Authority said in a statement.
The bike taxis have a minimum fare of ₹15 for 1.5 km and ₹10.27 for every kilometre thereafter, according to the statement on Monday. That compares with minimum fares of ₹31 for black-and-yellow taxis and ₹26 for auto-rickshaws. These fares will be applicable across the state. They will up for review after one year.
In the last two months, the transport department received four applications to launch bike taxi services in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, but approved provisional licences for only three companies: ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Ola), Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd. (Uber), and Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd. (Rapido).
In January 2023, the government first prohibited the use of private or non-transport category two-wheelers for app-based services. But despite the ban, some companies continued to provide app-based bike taxi services in Mumbai and other parts of the state using private two-wheelers.
{{/usCountry}}In January 2023, the government first prohibited the use of private or non-transport category two-wheelers for app-based services. But despite the ban, some companies continued to provide app-based bike taxi services in Mumbai and other parts of the state using private two-wheelers.
{{/usCountry}}The transport department has filed FIRs against some of these bike-taxi aggregators, who were operating illegally and charging dynamic fares.