New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has ordered the Delhi government not to take any action against the bike and taxi aggregators - Rapido and Uber. The court said that until the guidelines governing such aggregators are notified, no action should be taken against them. Confirming the court order, Parag Maini of AZB Law Partners, the law firm representing Rapido, said that this order is a big relief not only for them but also for many bike-taxi operators who are associated with the company.
Earlier in February, the Delhi government issued a public notice, stating that the operation of bikes and taxis is not permitted in the capital city and that two-wheelers with non-transport (private) registration are involved in purely commercial operations, which therefore is a violation of the Motor Vehicles Act and Rules.
The Delhi transport department had also said that the app-based aggregators would have to stop their services immediately or face a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Rapido then approached the court challenging this notice and challenging the constitutional validity of the Delhi Motor Vehicle Rules.
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Senior advocate Jayant Mehta appeared for Rapido. They were briefed by the AZB & Partners team consisting of Hardeep Sachdeva, Abhishek Awasthi (Senior Partners), Kamal Shankar, Parag Maini (Partners, Dispute Resolution) and Raghav Chadha, Pradyuman Sharma, Kshitij Rao (Senior Associates).
Earlier, the Maharashtra government had denied a licence to bike and taxi aggregator of Rapido. Then the Bombay High Court dismissed Rapido's petition challenging the verdict. This order was then challenged in the Supreme Court, which refused to grant relief to Rapido.
