When the case came up before Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi, the counsel appearing for the government said they had already formed a committee to go into the subject. The bench said it did not want the report but would like to know what has happened. The bench said it thought the issue could be resolved, as it was a policy matter.
The bench later listed the subject for Tuesday, as Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty would also be available to make his submissions.
The division bench, hearing the petitions last month, had observed that bike taxis were legally permitted in 13 states, calling it a recognised trade protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. It described the ban as a “de facto prohibition,” stressing that a legitimate trade cannot be banned outright under the Constitution, though the state is free to regulate it. The Central Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2025 also permit bike taxi operations, subject to state approval.
While ruling that the ride-hailing platforms cannot offer bike taxi services in Karnataka until a policy framework is in place, Justice BM Shyam Prasad had, in his April judgment, noted that the state government must be alive to the emerging circumstances and the evolving conditions in an obvious reference to people looking for multiple options of commute in Bengaluru.
“If the circumstances justify a new approach, the state government should not lag, and it should be open even to the petitioners (Uber, Ola, and Rapido) to goad the state government to such a change.” The judge further noted that “…an institution which refuses change becomes the architect of decay.”
Ride-hailing services and the state government have been at loggerheads after Karnataka, in March last year, banned the operation of bike taxi services owing to what the Congress regime saw as a lack of encouraging response from ride-hailing platforms to offer services with electric two-wheelers and gross misuse of the current policy.
The government also claimed risks to women’s safety from bike taxis while withdrawing its EV bike taxi scheme last year.