On Monday, 12 June, the Supreme Court put a stay on Delhi High Court's order dated 26 May that had allowed bike-taxis to operate in Delhi until the final policy has been announced.
This essentially means that bike-taxis won't be able to ply in the national capital until the Delhi government comes up with a policy on the same.
The Supreme Court was hearing two petitions by the Delhi government challenging the High Court order that no coercive action should be taken against the bike-taxi aggregators until the final policy was notified.
This comes weeks after the Delhi High Court said that no coercive action can be taken against bike-taxi aggregators until proper regulations were drafted.
The Supreme court observed that since the Delhi government is in the process of formulating a policy for granting licenses, a complete stay by the High Court on the notification that prohibited it, was unwarranted.
The government said that the final policy would be officially announced by the end of July. The Quint has reached out to aggregator companies for their official comments. This story will be updated soon with their responses.
On 20 February, the transport department of the Delhi government had declared that app-based aggregators that are running personal bikes as taxis, in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, will have to stop the service.
According to officials of ride-sharing company, there are more than one lakh drivers in Delhi who take up to 40 lakh rides a week.
The Quint had earlier reported on how the ban meant a host of problems for the drivers whose livelihood depended on the job. The riders faced a financial crunch even as the and the fear of getting caught and challaned by the police loomed.
(With inputs from The Indian Express, Bar&Bench)
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