[TusharK]

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued an advisory clarifying that motorcycles fall within the definition of contract carriages as per section 2(7) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.



At present, bike taxis are permitted in select states like Goa, Telangana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. However, they have been banned in Maharashtra and Delhi. The latest advisory by the government could pave the way for more states to issue permits for bike taxis. It also aims to protect bike taxi riders from being fined due to licensing issues.

Rapido is currently the largest platform offering bike taxi services in India. It has proved to be an affordable and convenient mode of transportation, especially in crowded cities.

Source: Autocar India

Link to Team-BHP news

[kosjam]

The advantage of quicker movement, cheaper rates and most imporantly, giving those pesky auto waalahs a run for their money is worth the added risk of more two wheeler traffic. But it might just reduce overall traffic and ola/uber fares surge pricing.

My experience with Rapido in Chennai was above average with the driver (rider?) very courteous and understanding of my requirements, even though I was not a local.

[anjan_c2007]

Advantages for both the biker and for the passenger. Will go a long way solving unemployment amongst youth. The capital investment is also lower. Besides, for passengers it gets them to commute faster to their destinations.

In fact, it's a good way to decongest traffic and also save fuel, as we find many aggregator cabs with a single passenger on city streets. Many such passengers would prefer hiring a bike, but in many cities these are not legalised.

Also such aggregators need to be permitted in rural areas for intratown and inter village connectivities.

[asit.kulkarni93]

Rapido was a hit with the staff at my office. It actually turned out to be cheaper than giving a dedicated 2-wheeler to them for our kind of usage. Porter does wonders and hopefully the bike taxi system is back soon in Maharashtra.

[shankar.balan]

What puts me off the bike taxi are the following two things;
1. What kind of rider is the operator. Because on a 2 wheeler, in our traffic and on our roads, the chances of mishaps are very high.
2. The helmet thingy. I cannot even consider the thought of wearing some ‘common’ helmet which has been used by multiple people because One can never be sure of the hygiene aspect, especially in our hot and humid climatic conditions. The alternative is to buy and lug one’s own helmet from place to place which is also inconvenient, especially when it comes to storing it if going to a restaurant / mall etc.

That way the Uber Go and Uber Auto and Ola and BluSmart and other taxi services are about as efficient and definitely give the feeling of greater safety than a motorcycle.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The helmet thingy. I cannot even consider the thought of wearing some ‘common’ helmet which has been used by multiple people because One can never be sure of the hygiene aspect, especially in our hot and humid climatic conditions.

Use your own balaclava, solves the hygiene part.

Safety does remain in question, also if I can emphasis more, the quality of helmet they carry itself is a question mark.

This all leads to either opt for your own helmet or go for other travelling modes.

[1985Darkkid85]

Originally Posted by kosjam

The advantage of quicker movement, cheaper rates and most imporantly, giving those pesky auto waalahs a run for their money is worth the added risk of more two wheeler traffic. But it might just reduce overall traffic and ola/uber fares surge pricing.

My experience with Rapido in Chennai was above average with the driver (rider?) very courteous and understanding of my requirements, even though I was not a local.

The word you are looking for is Captain and yes they are much benevolent, enthusiastic compared to the mannerless, uncouth auto goons.

[arjab]

West Bengal government has started issuing commercial, (yellow), number plates as on 2nd March 2024 for bike taxi services, Zomato, Swiggy and other delivery agents who use their two wheelers for commercial purposes. As per media reports some 200 permits were issued on one day itself. All RTO's have apparently been notified of this change.

The topmost concern w.r.t. bike taxi's is safety. There is always an overwhelming tendency of all two wheeler riders to weave in and out of traffic. Combine that with crazy 4-wheeler, vehicular traffic, who hardly abide by any rule or lane discipline and you staring at a potential menu for disaster.
On the brighter side: bike taxi's will bring prices down and definitely reduce the high handedness of the auto-wallah's. If this catches on and becomes popular, I won't be surprised if "auto-wallah unions" , sooner rather than later sit at a "dharna" protesting against bike taxi services - much like they did against UBERin the early days!

[Joe367]

Originally Posted by kosjam

The advantage of quicker movement, cheaper rates and most imporantly, giving those pesky auto waalahs a run for their money is worth the added risk of more two wheeler traffic.

I visited Bangalore with my sister for the first time in ny life. As soon as we stepped out of the KSR Bengaluru Railway station, we were surrounded by auto drivers and it was quite intimidating. One guy even kept following us in his auto outside of Railway station asking if we wanted a ride. We walked half a km and then tried to book a ride in rapido as suggested by my relative, who have been to Bangalore before. Seeing us standing with our phone made more auto drivers come to us 😂. They were like we can't call uber here, there is fine imposed for using online taxi services.. etc. They were demanding 300 rupees for a 3km ride and refused to negotiate.(2.6 km to our destination ad per Google maps when we checked).
Platforms like rapido and bike taxis is absolutely necessary for the city. It'll reduce such rowdysim by auto drivers and produce more part time employment opportunities as well.