Bombay Excessive Courtroom had pulled up Rapido for working with out procuring a license in Maharashtra.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday refused to grant reduction to bike-taxi aggregator Rapido in opposition to denial of licence to it by the Maharashtra authorities.
The highest court docket famous that amendments made to the Motor Autos Act in 2019 make it clear that aggregators can not function with out a legitimate licence. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala famous that Pune’s Regional Transport Workplace (RTO) had rejected its plea for licence in December 21 final 12 months.
The bench mentioned Roppen Transportation Companies Personal Restricted (Rapido) can method the Bombay Excessive Courtroom difficult the notification of the state authorities dated January 19, which had prohibited the usage of “non-transport vehicle” from automobile pooling It said that the validity of the order of the RTO in December final 12 months would stand subsumed by the following wider choice of the state authorities.
Throughout the listening to, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, showing for the bike-taxi aggregator, mentioned the Maharashtra authorities doesn’t have a scheme for two-wheelers, and subsequently, the applying for licence has been wrongly rejected.
He mentioned sure circumstances, which have been crucial to acquire a licence, have been really unattainable to attain for the corporate.
Solicitor Basic Tushar Mehta, together with advocates Siddharth Dharmadhikari and Abhikalp Pratap Singh, showing for the state authorities mentioned, “State is examining whether to have two-wheelers or not as taxi for safety and traffic consideration. We are not saying, we don’t have a policy”.
The highest court docket famous in its order that impact of amended provisions within the Motor Autos Act is that no particular person can have interaction himself as an aggregator with out a licence from such authority and topic to such circumstances as could also be prescribed by the state authorities.
It mentioned by way of first proviso of part 93 of Motor Autos Act, the state authorities whereas issuing the licence to an aggregator could observe such pointers as issued by the central authorities and the overall rule making energy has been entrusted to the state authorities.
The bench famous that Rapido’s software for licence was rejected on the bottom that it did not adjust to the phrases and circumstances of the state’s pointers of 2020. On January 27, the highest court docket had agreed to listen to the plea of Rapido in opposition to the Bombay Excessive Courtroom order directing it to droop its providers in Maharashtra instantly for working with out a licence from the state authorities.
On January 13, the excessive court docket had pulled up the aggregator for working with out procuring a license from the Maharashtra authorities and directed it to droop the providers instantly.
It had warned Rapido to both droop its bike taxi providers instantly or the court docket would concern instructions to state authorities to completely bar the corporate from getting any licence.
It had famous that within the absence of a licence, the corporate can not run its providers in an unregulated method.
Rapido had moved the excessive court docket in opposition to a communication issued to it by the state authorities on December 29, 2022 refusing to grant a motorcycle taxi aggregator’s licence.
The state authorities had in its letter mentioned it had no coverage on the licensing of motorcycle taxis nor a fare construction for them.
The corporate had assured the excessive court docket it should droop its providers until January 20 when the court docket would hear the matter additional.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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