An app-based bike-taxi service Rapido who on Friday (October 30) announced that the company will start their services in the financial capital, has got a notice from Andheri regional transport office (RTO) calling the service ‘illegal’ and has asked them to shut its service in Mumbai, an official informed on Tuesday.
The transport authorities have reportedly issued a notice to Rapido after the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Department claimed that they have not given any permission to the company to run their services in the city.
Rapido which started in the year 2015 began their operations in Mumbai on Friday without taking any prior permissions from the state government.
When Afternoon Voice contacted the Addl. Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Praveen Padwal he said, “If any company wants to start their operation in the city, they should first take permission from the authority. But in the case of Rapido, the company did not take any permission from the concerned department hence the RTO has issued a notice under the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) section 66 (1) and Sub Act 192 (a) to the company.”
Currently, Rapido operates in 100 cities across India. The company had announced on Friday that 2,000 captains or driver partners could now be booked for a short-distance trip through its app. Rapido has set fares at Rs 6 per kilometre. The bike-taxi also plans to take on board two lakh bike drivers in the next two years to expand its operations.
According to the recent report, the Andheri RTO, which has the registration code MH02, has also directed the company to immediately shut its service. The RTO also claimed that if the company will not stop its operation then legal action will be taken against it as per provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. Reportedly, the RTO has given seven days to the company to reply and warned of action if it fails to do so.
