Bengaluru needs bike taxis

Bengaluru: With public transport failing to fully meet the city’s requirements, bike taxis are becoming quite a hit, so much so that the  Regional Transport Office's intensive drive against them is drawing protest from commuters, who want the laws to be amended, if need be, to make sure they can continue using them.

Said one happy  user of the bike taxis, Rakesh R,  “They are comfortable and people are happy to use them. When the public is happy, the transport department should not delay recognizing  them and if necessary amend the law to fit them into the city’s transport system.”

An official of a cab-based aggregator said, “We have been getting  good feedback from the commuters as bikes are faster than any other vehicle in heavy traffic.  The department could make changes in the law to make the bike taxis legal.”

But justifying the drive against the bike taxis, Transport Commissioner, Ramegowda says they should have applied to the RTO before operating in the city.

“What if they have a problem while ferrying a person? Who will take responsibility? We need to have a count of  the bike taxis in the city so  we can use the data in times of crisis,” he said, 

however, revealing that the department was  open to making new rules to bring them under the ambit of law. “They should give us some time,” he added.

Currently, the rules  state that non-transport vehicles cannot be used to move goods or for commercial purposes in the state. 

But privately registered two-wheelers have been used for commercial purposes for  quite some time now even if the bike taxis are relatively new,  note experts.