In compliance with the order, bike taxi service options were removed from ride-hailing apps like Ola, Uber and Rapido.

Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy confirmed this and said that the companies will have to follow the court’s decision. Reddy told PTI-Bhasha, “Three months ago the court had ruled that bike taxis are illegal. First the court had given six weeks and then on request gave another six weeks. Now that 12 weeks have passed, the companies will have to follow the High Court order.”

A division bench of the Karnataka High Court on Friday refused to stay an earlier order of a single judge suspending bike taxi services in the state.

Also Read: Ola-Uber-Rapido rides will be cheaper, government may take a big decision

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Srinivas Harish Kumar was hearing appeals filed by Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd, ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd (which operates Ola) and Reopen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd (which operates Rapido).

The companies had challenged the April 2 order directing them to stop bike taxi services within six weeks. The deadline was later extended to June 15. The single judge had said that such services cannot operate unless the state government notifies specific rules and guidelines under the Motor Vehicles Act.

The division bench issued notice to the state government and other respondents and fixed the next hearing for June 24. Meanwhile, Tanveer Pasha, president of Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association, demanded strict implementation of the order. He said, ‘The government should seize the motorcycles running illegally and take legal action against the violators.’

Rapido in a statement cited the court’s decision and expressed concern for riders. It said, “Even though we are not the initiating party in the ongoing case, we are engaged as a responsible stakeholder. This is a challenging time for our drivers, many of whom depend on bike taxis as their primary source of income.”

Uber has also confirmed to suspend its bike taxi services from June 16. The company said, ‘This decision affects thousands of riders and drivers who rely on bike taxi service every day. We will continue to work closely with the Government of Karnataka to help develop a progressive policy that ensures safe, accessible and affordable mobility for all.’

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The post Ola, Uber, Rapido Bike-Taxi Service Closed in THIS State, High Court order first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.

In this petition, the 2016 order of the Allahabad High Court was challenged, which asked to make the flyway toll free. The court reprimanded the Noida Authority along with the Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments, who illegally handed over the project to the Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited (NTBCL). The Supreme Court said, “The contract given to NTBCL was unfair, unjust and contrary to constitutional norms.”

A bench of Justices Suryakant and Ujjal Bhuiyan said there was no reason to continue collecting tolls. Justice Suryakant wrote a 53-page judgment, rejecting all arguments of NTBCL, including claims of additional recovery of ₹30 crore presented by senior advocate A M Singhvi. He said that NTBCL collected much more money than the project cost, which led to “unfair benefit to NTBCL in exchange for the suffering of the public”. The court said that the contracts with NTBCL were full of such unfair and impractical conditions, which “not only shock this court, but are against public policy.”

Recovery completed by 2016, no reason to continue toll

The court said that NTBCL had recovered the project cost, maintenance expenses and sufficient profit on its initial investment by March 31, 2016. There was no justification for collecting user charges/toll after that. Justice Suryakant said, “IL&FS and NTBCL collected hundreds of crores of rupees from the public in the name of essential public infrastructure. This was not possible unless there was collusion between both the state governments and Noida officials, who ignored the contractual obligations.”

Pointing to corruption, the court made strong comments on the formula for project cost escalation and the process of increasing leases to collect user charges. “It is unimaginable that several levels of governments, including the most accomplished financial experts, could not see that this formula would put an undue burden on the public.”

CAG report revelations

The court said, “The CAG report has revealed shocking facts that the directors of NTBCL, including Pradeep Puri (who was a senior bureaucrat), did not shoulder any responsibility. Yet, all their expenses, including high salaries, were added to the total cost of the project.”

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