While there has been no official order on resumption, all the three apps now show bike taxis available for booking.
Screenshots of Ola, Uber, and Rapido resuming bike services in Bengaluru.
The resumption comes a day after the Karnataka High Court pulled up the state government for its blanket ban on bike taxis, observing that such services could be regulated instead of prohibited.
On August 20, a division bench led by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi, while hearing appeals filed by Uber, Ola and Rapido, remarked: “Give it a serious thought, there are lives at stake here. Every trade is permissible unless regulated. This (bike taxi) is not res extra commercium.”
The court noted that bike taxis are already legally recognised in 13 states, protected under Article 19(1)(g), and asked the state to frame rules by September 22.
Read more: Karnataka HC criticises bike taxi ban, calls service a necessity, not a luxury
The bench also orally directed that no coercive action be taken against operators in the meantime. However, the Advocate General assured the court that the government would take a “conscious decision” on policy, but indicated that framing fresh guidelines is not on the table for now.
Bike taxis have been a popular, low-cost mobility option in Bengaluru, with nearly six lakh bikes estimated to be in operation. However, the legality of their operations has been under contention for several years now. In April this year, a single-judge bench had ordered bike taxi operations to stop unless the state government framed rules under the Motor Vehicles Act. The deadline was set for mid-June.
On June 13, the Karnataka High Court refused to stay the order, saying services must halt until a policy was in place, as a result of which Bike taxi services were suspended across Karnataka on June 16, leaving office-goers scrambling and pushing up auto fares.
The Centre’s Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, issued on July 1, allow private motorcycles to be used for passenger rides with state approval. But Karnataka has so far resisted, citing union opposition, saftey and legal concerns.
With Uber, Ola and Rapido resuming operations from Wednesday (August 20), the ball is now in the state government’s court — quite literally — as it decides whether to regulate or once again shut down the two-wheel taxi trade in India’s tech capital.
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