Transport panel finds multiple violations by all 3 bike taxi operators in Mumbai metropolitan region
These violations include the use of non-electric and private bicycles, charging above approved rates, transporting passengers beyond the permitted distance and appointing drivers without police approval.
However, the STA, chaired by Maharashtra Transport Secretary Sanjay Sethi, did not take any immediate action against the operators but decided to hold several meetings with senior executives of the companies.
Additional Transport Commissioner and STA secretary Bharat Kalaskar told PTI that no action has been taken yet against the three operators due to the pattern of conduct in force ahead of the civic body elections in Mumbai.
According to the minutes of the STA meeting held on December 18, the transport department committee appointed to examine compliance with the Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules 2025 found several violations in the operations of bike taxi operators Uber, Rapido and Ola in MMR.
The committee, constituted on November 12, found widespread violations such as using non-electric and private bicycles as taxis, charging higher than the fares approved by the STA under its March 13 order, carrying passengers beyond the permissible limit of 15 kilometers and running services without mandatory police verification of passengers.
According to the minutes, the transport department has so far fined a total of 863 bicycle taxis belonging to three companies. According to the document, bike taxis operated by Roppen Transport Services Pvt Ltd (Rapido) faced the highest number of fines with 702, followed by Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd (Uber) with 85 and ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd (Ola) with 76.
Of the 16 police cases filed by the transport department against the three companies so far, the highest number (13 FIRs) are against Rapido, with two against Uber and one against Ola.
Meanwhile, officials said the FTA has decided to give these companies time to present their side before taking any action against their provisional licences.
According to the minutes of the STA meeting, the authority decided that first the transport commissioner and then the transport secretary would hold separate meetings with the senior management of all three bicycle taxi operators. The STA will decide on action to be taken against the operators after hearing their presentations.
According to transport ministry officials, they were expecting some stern action against bike taxi operators, especially after Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik’s statement following a review meeting on bike taxi issues earlier this month. The meeting was convened following a harassment case in MMR’s Kalyan city where a passenger allegedly harassed a female passenger.
Just a day before the STA meeting, minister Sarnaik had announced that the STA would take a decision against bicycle taxi aggregators on the grounds that they violated the rules.
Earlier this year, STA issued temporary bike taxi operator licenses under the Mumbai Bicycle Taxi Rules (2025) to three companies to operate bike taxi services in MMR.
While issuing temporary licenses, the STA has imposed a condition that companies must apply for permanent licenses within a month and fulfill all the terms and conditions prescribed under the Maharashtra Bicycle Taxi Rules, 2025.
One of the prerequisites for issuing a provisional license was the registration of at least 50 e-bike taxis in the transport category within a month.
In the same meeting, STA fixed a minimum charge of Rs 15 for the first 1.5 km and Rs 10.27 per km thereafter. The fare structure, based on the Khatua Committee formula used for taxis and autorickshaws, will be reviewed after a year.
