02-07-2025
Transport minister Pratap Sarnaik books bike taxi ride from outside Mantralaya, exposes illegal operations in Mumbai
Mumbai: After a recent police case against bike taxis illegally operating in the city, state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik, while waiting outside Mantralaya on Wednesday, asked a senior official of the department if bike taxis were completely off roads.
He was informed that there were no bike taxis operating in Mumbai. But when the minister personally booked a bike on the Rapido Bike Taxi app under an alias, within 10 minutes, the bike arrived at Shaheed Babu Genu Chowk near Mantralaya.
"I caught the rider red handed and proved that he was operating illegally," Sarnaik said. He later issued a statement to the media saying: "This bike was taking bookings for rides despite state govt not having granted official permission to any bike taxi app."
He further said: "I offered the rider Rs 500 as fare. I told him that filing a case against someone like you, who is poor, won't achieve anything for us. However, those responsible must be brought to justice."
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Rapido officials could not be contacted for comments.
State govt had recently announced an e-bike policy, allowing bike taxi services only to organisations that comply with various terms and conditions and have electric bikes.
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Later, transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar issued a notification on draft Maharashtra Bike-Taxi Rules 2025, and invited suggestions and objections from the public till June 5. "The process is yet to be finalised, therefore bike taxis are illegal on city roads as on date," Sarnaik said, appealing to Mumbaikars not to board such bikes.
A state govt official pointed out: "While the minister caught the bike taxi operator red handed, what action will he take against the transport department official who had claimed that there was not a single bike taxi on Mumbai roads and provided false information."
