Overview

• Ola, Uber India and Rapido filed appeals before a Karnataka High Court division bench on July 10–11, arguing the state’s ban violates their constitutional right to trade and Motor Vehicles Act provisions for two-wheeler aggregation.
• The central government’s July 1 Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines expressly allow states to license non-transport motorcycles as bike taxis, removing any option to reject the framework.
• Karnataka IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge publicly denounced the ban and proposed regulatory sandboxes under a new Karnataka Innovation Authority to pilot two-wheeler ride services in controlled environments.
• Since June 30, hundreds of bike taxi riders across Karnataka have staged an indefinite hunger strike to protest lost incomes and demand reinstatement of their operations.
• Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik has ordered RTO raids on unlicensed bike taxis and directed Uber Shuttle services in Mumbai and Hyderabad to cease for operating without stage carriage permits.