‘I Booked a Ride Myself’: Maharashtra Minister’s Sting Exposes Illegal Bike Taxis

‘I Booked a Ride Myself’: Illegal bike taxis are not operational in Mumbai, said Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik. But instead of believing him, he decided to test the claim. How? He booked a ride from Mantralaya to Dadar using the Rapido app with a different name.

“I booked a ride from Mantralaya to Dadar using a different name,” Sarnaik told reporters. “Within 10 minutes, a rider showed up outside Babu Genu Junction.”

The app quoted a fare of ₹195 for the journey. When the biker from Rapido arrived, Sarnaik revealed his identity and told the rider that such services are not allowed in Mumbai.

He offered Rs 500 as fare to the driver of that bike while telling him that bike taxis were illegal in Mumbai. "I am the Transport Minister. These rules are for your benefit," the minister was heard saying to the visibly surprised rider. However, the rider refused to accept the money.

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No legal action was taken against the biker. “Filing a case against someone like you won’t help,” Sarnaik told him. “Our real focus is on taking action against those running these illegal operations.”

In January 2023, the Maharashtra government had banned bike taxis in the state and asked the platforms to apply for a licence to operate in the state.

A few days later, ride-hailing platform Rapido approached the local transport department to get a licence to offer bike taxi services in the state, but was denied permission. Then it moved the Bombay High Court (HC) challenging the notification after the department refused to give permission to operate as a bike taxi aggregator.

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But earlier this year, in April, the Maharashtra cabinet approved a proposal to allow bike taxis in the state. Sarnaik then said that only electric bike taxis would be allowed to ply on the roads. He added that the bike taxi policy would generate 20,000 to 25,000 jobs.

After that, the HC also rejected the plea of the aggregator and directed the company to suspend its bike taxi services after it found that Rapido was operating without a licence. Since then, the bike taxi policy in the state is in limbo.

A senior official in the transport commissioner’s office said a proposal has been sent to the government suggesting minor changes in the previous set of rules.

Notably, the Maharashtra Transport Commissioner’s office has filed an FIR against Rapido and Uber companies at Azad Maidan police station last month for operating bike taxis illegally.

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