The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre’s stand on the Delhi government’s petition appealing a High Court order suspending a notice to bike-taxi aggregator Rapido and Uber and allowing it to operate till the final policy has been notified.
A vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal posts the matter for hearing on Monday and asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the petition to the Solicitor General of India for the Centre’s stand on the issue.
“Let a copy of petitions be served upon the Solicitor General so that views of Union of India can be taken into account. List the case on Monday,” the apex court stated in its order.
During the hearing, the bench asked Delhi government if has it started a licensing regime for the aggregators and how long will it take.
To this, counsel appearing for the Delhi government replied that it will take a maximum of one month.
Delhi government has challenged the High Court May 26 interim order staying the Delhi Transport Department’s notification to stop plying bike-taxi aggregator through ride-sharing platforms in the national capital.
Delhi government has sought a hearing saying that in view of the impugned interim order of the High Court, the respondents Uber and Rapido are continuing the use of non-transport vehicles including two-wheelers for the purpose of aggregation and ride pooling which is impermissible under the Motor Vehicles Act read with the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 without obtaining valid permits.
The government has said that the Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator Scheme, 2023 has already been prepared by the State and the same is now pending the approval of the Competent Authority.
“The respondents are required to get themselves registered and apply for permits after complying with the conditions laid down therein upon its notification and only thereafter, the Respondents can be allowed to continue their business operations in accordance with law”, the state government said.
Plying the bike taxis by Rapido and Uber cannot, amongst other reasons, be permitted without complying with conditions like police verification, obligations of installing GPS devices, panic buttons etc., to ensure road safety and the safety of the passengers, the State government said.
This report is filed by ANI news service.
