Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A case has been registered against Roppen Transport Pvt Ltd, the parent company of ride aggregator Rapido, after a rider was caught operating an unauthorised bike-taxi in Pune, officials told news agency Press Trust of India.
The action followed a decoy operation by a Regional Transport Office road safety squad on Friday to check whether Rapido continued to operate despite its licence application being rejected and courts ordering it to stop its services.
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An RTO official booked a 13-km ride from Yerawada to the Kothrud bus depot through the Rapido app for Rs 179. A rider arrived shortly afterwards on a petrol-powered two-wheeler registered in the non-transport category.
RTO inspectors took possession of the vehicle and issued a challan under the Motor Vehicles Act. A complaint was subsequently lodged at Vishrantwadi police station, officials told PTI.
The action came after a meeting on Thursday chaired by Pune Collector and Regional Transport Authority Chairman Jitendra Dudi. He directed Rapido to suspend all operations in Pune district until it obtains a valid e-bike aggregator licence.
The Pune Regional Transport Authority had rejected the company’s licence application on December 20, 2022. Rapido challenged the decision, but the Bombay High Court dismissed its plea in January 2023 and directed it to shut down the app. The Supreme Court later also dismissed the company’s challenge.
Rapido submitted a fresh application for an aggregator licence on August 11 this year, but regulatory approval is still pending.
Police have registered the case under Section 318(3), which deals with cheating, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the Information Technology Act, 2000, officials told PTI.
The case centres on Rapido allegedly continuing its bike-taxi service in Pune without regulatory approval, despite previous court and transport authority decisions requiring it to stop operations.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
