Delhi govt warns use of two-wheelers for plying, fine of Rs 10,000 and imprisonment can be issued

Digital Desk: The Transport Department has issued a warning to bike taxi operators not to operate on Delhi's roads, noting that doing so would be a breach of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 and subject aggregators to a punishment of Rs 1 lakh.

The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 prohibits the use of two-wheelers for commercial reasons. The department stated in a public notice that a first offense might result in a fine of Rs 5,000 while a second offense could result in a fine of Rs 10,000 and up to a year in jail.

In these cases, the motorist will additionally suffer a three-month license suspension.

According to the notification, some app-based companies are portraying themselves as aggregators in violation of the 1988 act. A fine of Rs. 1 lakh will be imposed as punishment for this.

The Supreme Court turned down Rapido's request for relief from the Maharashtra government's refusal to issue it a licence earlier this month.

It had been mentioned that the Motor Vehicles Act's 2019 revisions made it plain that aggregators must have a current licence to operate. On December 21, Pune's Regional Transport Office rejected the application for a licence, according to a bench consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices SP Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

The bench ruled that Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (Rapido) may appeal to the Bombay High Court the state government's notification of January 19 that forbade the use of "non-transport vehicles" for carpooling. It declared that the state government's broader judgement would supersede the RTO's December order in terms of legitimacy.