Transport Minister Cracks Down on Rapido Bike Taxi Operations

Mumbai (July 2): Even though the state government has not yet officially permitted any bike taxi app, Rapido, which has been operating illegally by taking bookings via its app and ferrying passengers, was caught red-handed by State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik.

The government recently announced its new e-bike policy, under which only electric bikes that meet specific terms and conditions will be granted permission to operate as bike taxis. As a result, all currently operating bike taxis are considered unauthorized.

When Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik questioned the transport department regarding the presence of such apps, he received an official response stating that no unauthorized bike taxi apps are currently operating in Mumbai or other cities.

To verify this claim, Minister Sarnaik personally booked a ride on the Rapido app under an assumed name. Within ten minutes, a bike arrived at Shaheed Babu Genu Junction near Mantralaya to pick him up. In this way, the Minister himself exposed the unauthorized operations of the bike taxi app.

Now, there is growing curiosity about what action will be taken against the officials who misinformed the Minister with false reports.