Slow Lane

Two years ago, Rapido started bike taxis in Maharashtra and came face to face with the usual hurdle for doing any business in India—the gov­ernment. Its vehicles were seized because the enterprise was held to be not legal. But in many other parts of the country, they were already there and you intermittently heard news of bike taxis being eventually allowed in the state. This week, Maharashtra’s transport minister voiced it once more, speaking of a common regulation for all forms, including bikes. There were also statements on safety measures, minimum fleet requirements and so on. Chances are it might still not be smooth sailing.

The private transport sector is both organised and heavily regulated, which is a good combination for all manner of vested interests to intervene. Mumbai’s autorickshaws are much better than other cities in the country but during peak hours even the drivers there turn from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde. They refuse fares leav­ing commuters angry and frustrated. This is a function of supply and demand. The driver has to make most of his daily revenue in that little win­dow and is optimising his takings. A bike taxi would be a great relief for the public. Plus, they take lesser space on roads than conventional vehicles and are also better for the environment given the fuel consumed and emissions. A generation of young people out to make some extra earnings would hop on to provide this service and fatigued office-goers wouldn’t have to be at the mercy of autos and taxis. Which is why the latter have been resisting this policy. It was the same when Uber and Ola entered the mar­ket but they managed to slip through because at the time the scale of the disruption wasn’t evident. Now everyone knows and so resists harder. In between are all the instru­ments of the government trying to get whatever mileage they can, whether politically or financially. That bike taxis will come is an inevitability but till that moment doors and windows can be shut and opened depending on who wants to make a quick profit out of a short opportunity.

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