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Informist, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – In a relief to ANI Technologies, Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd. and Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd., the Karnataka High Court Friday allowed the operation of bike taxis in the state. The high court allowed the motorcycle owners to file applications for registration of their vehicles as transport vehicles. 

 

The court directed the Karnataka government to consider these applications for the registration of motorcycles as transport vehicles and for the grant of permits to operate them as contract carriages. While the transport authorities are not precluded from examining relevant aspects for vehicle registration and issuance of permits, the same will not be denied on the ground that motorcycles cannot be operated as transport vehicles or contract carriages, the court said.

 

The regional transport authority can also impose such conditions as it considers necessary in accordance with law under the provisions of Section 74(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the court said. The authorities need to consider the pending applications of the aggregators and pass appropriate orders, the court said.

 

The high court noted that the state government has framed the Karnataka On-Demand Transport Technology Aggregator Rules 2016, which provide for the grant of a licence to an aggregator for aggregating taxis. Since taxis include motorcycles, an aggregator is also entitled to operate as an aggregator for bike taxi services, a bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Joshi said. However, they would need to furnish details of the vehicles for incorporation in their licences under the 2016 Rules, the bench said.

 

The court said that Rule 7 of the 2016 Rules specifies certain conditions that must be complied with by every taxi, including the display of a board inside the taxi bearing the vehicle permit and the driver's details. It is obvious that there cannot be a display board inside the motorcycle, the court said. However, it is necessary that Rule 7 be understood to mean that the bike taxi should display the vehicle permit, as well as the driver's details, including photograph, name, driving license, and identification card issued by the police authorities, the court said.

 

The petitioners, technology companies operating platforms for aggregating taxi services, had filed an appeal against a 2025 single-judge order that had restrained the companies from operating bike taxi services. The single judge had said that unless the state government notified the relevant guidelines under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the relevant rules were framed under the provision, these companies could not function as aggregators for bike taxis.

 

The petitioners argued that motor vehicles fall within the definition of the term 'motorcabs' and therefore, the state government cannot decline to register a motorcycle as a transport vehicle. The central government has permitted motorcycles to be registered as transport vehicles, the petitioners said. Therefore, the state of Karnataka has no discretion to prohibit the use of motorcycles as taxis, the petitioners said.

 

The state government argued that motorcycles were not transport vehicles and, therefore, there was no question of registering them as such. The state government said that the petitioners did not have any unqualified right to operate bike taxis or to act as aggregators of bike taxi services.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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