The Bombay High Court ordered Rapido to cease all of its operations in Maharashtra by 1pm on Friday because the ride-hailing service lacked the necessary licences to operate in the state. As per a report by Live Law, Rapido told the court that it has complied with the ruling, and that as a result, its app is no longer functional in Maharashtra.
Earlier, the Bengaluru-based company had challenged the Maharashtra government’s refusal to grant it the licence required to operate two-wheeler cab service in the state. Rapido was warned by a division bench of Justices GS Patel and SG Dige that if the company did not stop operating by 1 pm, the petition would be dismissed with costs.
The court, after hearing that Rapido lacks the necessary licences to run any of its services (bike taxi, autorickshaw, and food delivery), ordered the ride service aggregator to halt operations until January 20. Following this, Rapido notified the court of its compliance.
It was, however, informed by the company that for the convenience of customers who may have booked rides before 1pm, the company will fulfill those obligations.
Maharashtra government had previously informed the aggregator that neither a policy for allowing bike taxis nor a pricing structure has yet been created in the state.
Advocate General Birendra Saraf, who appeared on behalf of the government, informed the court on Tuesday that bike taxis are currently not permitted to operate because the government has not yet released any policies or rules in this regard.
He also informed the court that a committee has been formed to investigate the possibility of creating state regulations for bike taxis. Moreover, legal action has been initiated against companies like Uber that run bike taxis.
