Karnataka High Court refuses to stay order to halt bike taxi services

A Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court on Friday declined to stay a single-judge ruling which had ordered a halt on bike taxi operations in Karnataka until the State comes out with a comprehensive policy to regulate bike taxis [ANI Technologies Private Limited v. State of Karnataka and ors]..A Bench of Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar said that they would hear the case on merits on June 24..The Court orally explained that it may have considered staying the single-judge order if the State had said that it was in the process of framing rules, and there was some delay on their part. However, since the State said that it took a policy decision not to permit bike taxis, the Bench refused to stay the single-judge's directions. It added that it is conscious that this matter concerns the livelihoods of bike taxi drivers and public interest. .By an April 2 order, Justice B Shyam Prasad had ordered all bike taxi services to be halted in Karnataka within six weeks.At the time, the Court had explained that unless the State decides to make a policy change and frames rules and guidelines to permit bike taxis, such vehicles cannot be operated. The six-week deadline within which bike operations were to be halted in Karnataka was set to expire in May.However, affected bike taxi operators, including Rapido, as well as OLA and Uber (which had been proposing to enter the bike taxi market), later urged the Court to extend this deadline.The single-judge accepted this request and eventually extended the deadline to wrap up bike taxi operations till June 15. .Now, the April 2 ruling itself has been challenged. ANI Technologies (which owns OLA) filed its appeal on June 11, while Uber filed its appeal on June 2. Senior Advocate Dhyan Chinnappa was among the counsel who argued for the appellants today. He urged the Division Bench to stay the single-judge order. .He contended that bike taxis can operate under the already existing framework of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988."According to me, no new rules are required...The Central government has said that two-wheeler motor vehicle can be operated as a transport vehicle. This has been recognised by the single judge...State rules are (already) framed on basis of which four wheelers are operating (as taxis)...On the face of it applies to two-wheelers also...The definition of 'motor cab' under the MV Act is anything that carries less than 6 passengers. Two-wheeler is also a motor cab," he said. ."Then they can get truck also under this!" replied Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, who represented the Karnataka government. .The Advocate General (AG) also opposed any grant of interim relief to the appellants. He recounted that they were operating bike taxis earlier on the strength of an interim order for years. "For 5 years, they are operating without permit," he said. "Till next date only (grant interim relief), we will make out a case; Court may independently examine it," Chinnappa argued. "By virtue of court order, they can't run," the AG insisted. "For four years, we have been running," Chinnappa persisted. "That's the problem," the AG replied. .The Court eventually declined to order any express stay in the single-judge ruling and confined to seeking the response of State authorities by formally issuing them notice. The AG assured that the State would file its written submissions by June 20. The case will be heard next on June 24. .[Live Coverage].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.