Bengaluru Bike Taxi Ban Revoked! Ola, Uber, Rapido, Other Bike Taxis To Make a Comeback In Karnataka

Bengaluru Bike Taxi Ban: In a major relief for commuters in Bengaluru, Ola, Uber, Rapido and other companies may resume the bike taxi services in the metro city on a full scale soon. The Karnataka High Court, on Friday January 23, lifted the ban on bike taxis in Bengaluru and across the state.

A Karnataka HC bench comprising chief jusitice Vibhu Bakrhu and Jistice CM Joshi passed an order to set aside the order passed by a single bench in the matter in April last year.
The HC bench had allowed appeals filed by Uber India, Roppen Transporation Services (Rapido), ANI Technologies (OLA), the Bike Taxi Owners' Welfare Association and several individual bike taxi owners.

Karnataka HC's judgement on bike taxis came after several vehicle owners filed applications for registration of their vehicles as transport vehicles. "We direct the state govt to consider such applications for registration as transport vehicles and to grant permits to operate as contract carriages," Times of India quoted Karnataaka HC bench's ruling.

Bike Taxis in Bengaluru: Uber, Ola, Rapido Services To Continue

As the judgement has revoked the ban on bike taxis in Karnataka, residents can use the bike taxi services provided by companies like Ola, Uber, Rapido, etc. However, people must check whether these services are operable in their cities or not. In Bengaluru, people can now continue to use these services without any obstruction.

Bike Taxi Ban In Bengaluru, Other Karnataka Cities

A Karnataka HC bench, on 2 April 2025, had passed an order that restrained aggregators from operating bike taxi sedrvices. The bench had observed that platforms like Rapido, Ola, Uber, etc could not function in the state in the absence of guidelines under Sction 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act and state rules.

The HC had also imposed restrictions on the government to register motorcycles as transport vehicles or issue contract carriage permits. In the recent order, that came on Friday, the HC bench had set aside the ruling and maintained that the authorities can't refuse registration or permits when the Motor Vehicles Act allows two-wheelers to operate as contract carriages.

In addition to these decisions, the recent ruling also allowed the Karnataka government to impose additional conditions while issuing licences to tranport technology aggregators under existing rules.

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