Maharashtra Transport minister catches illegal bike taxi Op in Mumbai

Mumbai: Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik booked a ride on an illegal bike taxi after officials tried to convince him that none of them is functioning in Mumbai.

Pratap Sarnaik had his ride from Mantralaya to Dadar booked on the Rapido app using a different name for him, NDTV reported.

Ten minutes after booking, a bike arrived to pick him up from the station.

The minister told the driver that he was the transport minister, adding ‘These rules are for your benefit’.

However, he offered the driver Rs 500 as fare saying that bike taxis are illegal in Mumbai.

‘You came here, for that I am giving you Rs 500,’ the minister told the visibly surprised rider who refused to accept the money.

The minister told the driver that filing a case against a ‘poor person like you’ was pointless, adding that ‘But the people behind the illegal operation should be punished. That is our intention’.

The state government has not granted permission to operate any app-based bike aggregator in Mumbai.

However, the recently announced e-bike policy allows only companies that comply with the government’s specific norms to operate services.

It is to be allowed in cities with a population of more than one lakh.

The government has not yet notified the rules, thus making such services illegal.

When he asked if illegal bike taxis were operating in the city, officials told the minister that the app and service were not operational.

This comes a month after the Maharashtra Transport Commissioner's office filed FIR against Rapido and Uber companies for allegedly operating bike taxis illegally.