Bombay HC instructs RTO to consider Rapido’s fresh application

RTO officials said that they will continue to act against the bike taxi aggregator till such time a final decision is taken on the fresh application

Even as the Bombay high court has asked the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) to reconsider a fresh application from Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd. (Rapido), RTO officials said that they will continue to act against the bike taxi aggregator till such time a final decision is taken on the fresh application. The Bombay high court on Tuesday disposed of a writ petition filed by Rapido after the Pune RTO termed bike taxi operations ‘illegal’ while directing the aggregator to close its operations.

The Pune RTO department has formed a team of 12 RTO inspectors to take action against these illegal bike taxis (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

A high court bench comprising justice Arif S Doctor and justice S V Gangapurwala in its order said, “The respondent (RTO) shall reconsider the entire issue and take a decision afresh, of course after considering the application and the documents filed by the petitioner and after hearing the petitioner.” The bench however did not opine on the merits of the matter.

When asked whether Rapido will continue its services and what about the action taken against it by the RTO, Rapido’s counsel, advocate Aman Dutta, during the press conference on Thursday, said that there are over 2 lakh bike taxi riders in Mumbai and Pune who are earning for their families from this bike taxi service with 57,000-odd such riders in Pune alone. “Taking action against them is not right on the part of the RTO as we have submitted a fresh application yesterday about getting permission for a legalised license to run the services in the state. Till the state government takes any decision on it (acceptance or rejection), we will be running the service and if the RTO takes any action against our bike taxi riders, we will respond to it in a legal way,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Pune RTO department has formed a team of 12 RTO inspectors to take action against these illegal bike taxis, “We will continue to take action not only against Rapido but against all bike taxis running in Pune without any permits or licenses,” said Ajit Shinde, Pune regional transport officer. He clarified that action will continue till the state transport department and the RTO take a call on the fresh application filed by the aggregator.

The high court in its earlier ruling on March 7 had barred bike taxi operators from offering the service saying that, “No aggregator shall ply if an application has not been made or if an application for license has been rejected”.