Bengaluru: The high court, while delivering its verdict on the operation of bike taxis, said Friday that a blanket prohibition on issuing contract carriage permits to motorcycles cannot be considered a reasonable restriction under Article 19(6) of the Constitution or the Motor Vehicles Act.A division bench of the court noted the MV Act permits motorcycles to be treated as transport vehicles, contract carriages, and public service vehicles. It said the state’s ban action ran contrary to the legislative scheme of the Act, which is traceable to Entry 35 of List III of the Seventh Schedule.The judges pointed out that there was no statutory rule, instrument or notification prohibiting the registration of motorcycles as transport vehicles or the issuance of contract carriage permits for them. While the state claimed the ban was a policy decision, the court said no policy or underlying considerations had been placed on record, adding that a complete ban attracted a higher degree of judicial scrutiny. The court observed that no credible material had been produced to substantiate the necessity of prohibiting bike taxi services. It noted the state govt itself had acknowledged the need for such services in the opening paragraphs of the electric bike-taxi scheme.The bench recorded that the state did not dispute the contention that several congested areas were not served by public transport, and that the need for last-mile connectivity remained undisputed. It referred to a 2019 expert committee report that recognised the issue, though it recommended infrastructure development instead of permitting bike taxis.The court clarified that the issue before it was not whether bike taxis should be permitted, but whether they could be prohibited in the public interest. It noted that several other states had issued permits for bike taxis, citing a communication issued by the Chandigarh RTA.On the regulatory framework, the bench referred to Section 93 of the MV Act, which mandates licensing for aggregators. It held that aggregators could not operate without a licence, and noted that the central govt’s Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2025 (MVAG 2025) contemplated licences for bike-taxi aggregators, including motorcycles in the prescribed forms.The court examined Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, holding that since taxis included motorcycles, licensed aggregators were entitled to operate bike-taxi services, subject to furnishing vehicle details.Interpreting Rule 7 of the aggregator rules, the bench said that while a display board could not be placed inside a motorcycle, the requirement should be understood to mean that permit and driver details must be accessible to passengers.
