Rapido, the Bengaluru-based bike aggregator, has been directed by the Bombay High Court to suspend all services in Maharashtra, as the company is said to be operating illegally due to lack of a valid licence, according to a report by Economic Times.
The company has said that starting 1pm today, it will suspend all services in the state until January 20. All of Rapido’s services — including two-wheeler passenger service, two-wheeler parcel service, and auto service — will be put to a halt. This ban will continue until January 20, the report said.
Earlier this week, the Bombay High Cort was hearing a petition filed by Rapido Pune and Mumbai operator Roppen Transport Services Pvt. Ltd. against a state communication issued on December 20 last year that refused to allow the company a bike taxi aggregator licence.
The bench also offered a stern word to the Maharashtra government over its lack of clarity on its stance on permitting bike taxis in the state.
Another popular cab aggregator, Uber, was in November last year asked to verify past records of drivers before onboarding them and suggested that the company put a mechanism in the cab to check their alcohol consumption levels. While speaking at the safety feature launch event of Uber, Delhi Police additional commissioner Mahesh Chandra Bharadwaj said that drunken driving has been a major factor in case of rule violations.
"If a driver is drunk then you should have some kind of mechanism to know that your driver is drunk. We test drunk and drive through the alcohol meter. Can Uber fix something closer to steering so that if a driver is drunk you get the notification. Please find a mechanism to test drunk drivers," Bharadwaj said.
He asked Uber to verify the past record of drivers before onboarding them.
"Uber should try to put a system in place to get notified about traffic rule violations by their driver partner, which in turn can be shared with Delhi Traffic Police," Bhardwaj said.