Earlier this month, hundreds of <keyword id="19895037" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru" source="keywords">Bengaluru</keyword> <keyword id="21660399" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="auto-rickshaw-drivers" source="keywords">auto-rickshaw drivers</keyword> gathered outside the Transport Department’s head office in Shantinagar. The protestors — composed of 32 mobility-related organisations led by a private union group — had many demands, but the major one was clear: ban two-wheeler “bike taxis” in Silicon City.<br /><br />Cab-aggregating firm <keyword id="20445234" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rapido" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Rapido" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Rapido">Rapido</keyword> popularised <keyword id="20104101" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bike-taxis" source="keywords">bike taxis</keyword> in Bengaluru after their introduction around 2016. With fares about half of that of a standard cab, and quite a bit lower than that of auto rates, the mode quickly became popular among the masses who did not mind the temporary discomfort of a pillion ride to their destination. Now, all popular cab-for-hire apps offer bike taxi services in Bengaluru, including <keyword id="20045096" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uber-and-ola" source="keywords">Uber and Ola</keyword>.<br /><br />However, the mode’s rising popularity has also diverted potential customers and businesses away from auto-rickshaws, which irked the group. The past year has seen many instances of <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/after-auto-drivers-attack-rapido-captain-bike-taxi-union-in-bengaluru-asks-police-to-ensure-protection-of-its-riders-8679747/">violent attacks</a> on bike taxi captains by auto drivers. While these cases are regularly brought to the notice of the police, little action is taken to de-escalate the growing contempt among the groups.<br /><h2>A complicated legal situation</h2>Further, the law remains too muddy to place blame and offer any resolution. Despite pleas by the Bike Taxi Association for legalisation and recognition of bike taxi services in the state, no resolute legal action has been taken on the matter. <br />      <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111512310" title="Bengaluru's newest ride-hailing app allows you to book autos via WhatsApp, to follow govt rates" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>A majority of two-wheeler cabs comprise private vehicles in Bengaluru, meaning they are fitted with white registration plates and cannot be used as commercial vehicles. Furthermore, the addition of a platoon of electric vehicles with green plates (with yellow font for commercial use) adds to the confusion.<br /><br />In August 2021, the court had advised no “coercive action” against bike taxis after a petition by Rapido. Further, in April, sources reported that the Karnataka High Court had directed the state government to protect bike taxi operators by taking strict action against individuals or entities that “unlawfully obstructed” their services. <br /><br />Naturally, there is a lot of grey area and unclarity as to the legal status of bike taxis, and the burden of this has fallen upon the bike taxi service providers, lakhs of whom have become dependent on the service for their daily <keyword id="20445583" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="livelihood" source="keywords">livelihood</keyword>. And as the recent protests led to strict crackdowns on hundreds of “illegal” bike taxis, the step has led to devastating consequences for many confused captains.<br /><h2>Daily livelihood seized</h2>60-year-old bike taxi captain Tarun [name changed for anonymity] recently received an <keyword id="19895382" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Uber" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Uber">Uber</keyword> booking near the Regional Transport Office, Kasturinagar. After reaching the location specified on the app, he was met with a traffic police officer in civilian uniform, who reportedly impounded the bike immediately.<br /><br />As per Tarun, the police explained that his bike, although it had the necessary documentation (such as registration and insurance), was illegal for use as a bike taxi service. Tarun had to visit the RTO multiple times over the course of the next several days, after which he had to pay an arbitrary ‘fine’ of Rs 6,500 to release the bike. The police reportedly declined to give a break-up of the fine.<br /><br />“They took away my only source of livelihood, so I had no option but to oblige so that I do not lose the vehicle altogether,” lamented Tarun. “Like me, there are many people whose families run on this income.”<br />      <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111457653" title="Brace yourself, Bengaluru! Traffic could get a whole lot worse as BBMP announces major roadwork in many key areas" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>A similar situation transpired for other captains for other cab-aggregating companies after the recent crackdown, who incurred varying unspecified penalties for “unauthorised” rendering of bike taxi services. One source noted that the RTO demanded that the challan be paid with cash rather than an online transaction.<br /><h2>Unaffordable penalty and no communication</h2>Officials have noted that there are provisions to impose a penalty of Rs 5,000 if vehicle owners are found using a private vehicle for commercial purposes. However, this has proven a heavy blow for captains such as Tarun, who have become reliant on his bike for a daily wage.<br /><br />After accounting for petrol and maintenance charges, Tarun explained that he earns approximately Rs 300 per day. Not only did he lose out on precious days of wages after his bike was confiscated, but the penalty incurred would take over half a month of work to pay off, he explained.<br />      <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111663953" title="Is the cost of rent finally going down in Bengaluru&amp;#39;s IT corridors like Koramangala and Whitefield?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Tarun and other captains noted that there was no communication from Uber or Rapido to discontinue their bike taxi services. Until more clarity is obtained, they are apprehensive of continuing services, leaving them with no viable source of income.<br /><br />Captains expressed discontent that action was being taken against the ground-level workers instead of the cab-aggregating companies themselves, such as Uber and Rapido. “If they really want to stop this [bike taxi services], then why don’t they stop it from the app?,” Tarun remarked. “If they say that we are illegal, then Uber and Rapido are also illegal.”<br /><br />Until a method to legalise bike taxis is provided, bike taxi providers — who often turn to the service as a last resort amid the unavailability of quality jobs — will continue to live in financial uncertainty.<br />

“They took away my only source of livelihood” — As police impound bike taxis in Bengaluru, captains cry in despair

<keyword id="19895037" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bengaluru" source="keywords">Bengaluru</keyword>’s ride-hailing landscape has seen the emergence of a new player, ‘<keyword id="22009267" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nagara-Metered-Auto" source="keywords">Nagara Metered Auto</keyword>,’ launched in June and backed by the Karnataka State Driver’s Council. This service aims to reintroduce the <keyword id="22298940" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metre-culture" source="keywords">metre culture</keyword> in the city, offering rides at government-fixed rates.<br /><br />Shivanna from NMA notes that the goal is to combat the cheating experienced by <keyword id="19933374" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="auto-drivers" source="keywords">auto drivers</keyword> with other <keyword id="19945903" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ride-hailing-apps" source="keywords">ride-hailing apps</keyword> and reestablish the trust and reliability of metered autos.<br /><br />“After conducting many surveys in the city and talking one-on-one with auto drivers, we came to the conclusion that metred autos work the best,” explained Shivanna to Deccan Herald. “Many auto drivers told us they were getting cheated by other ride-hailing apps and they would rather go back to using the metre”. <br /><h2>How to use and challenges</h2>Unlike conventional ride-hailing apps, Nagara Metered Auto stands out by operating primarily through a website and a WhatsApp chatbot, eliminating the need for passengers to download a separate mobile application. Drivers, however, are required to download an app to register and use the service.<br /><br />The fare structure is straightforward: Rs 30 for the first 2 km and Rs 15 for every additional kilometre, adhering strictly to government-set rates. To book a ride, users can simply text ‘Hi’ to a WhatsApp number. They will receive a One Time Password (OTP), valid for eight minutes, to start a street-hailed ride. Alternatively, drivers registered on the app are identifiable by the branding on their autos, and they can initiate rides using a unique QR code for street-hailing passengers.<br />      <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111457653" title="Brace yourself, Bengaluru! Traffic could get a whole lot worse as BBMP announces major roadwork in many key areas" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Despite its promising concept, Nagara Metered Auto faces teething issues. DH’s attempts to hail rides in areas like M G Road, Indiranagar, Okalipuram, and Sheshadripuram were reportedly unsuccessful, as the website failed to assign a driver. The majority of auto drivers, particularly from localities like Yeshwantpur, Nandini Layout, and Whitefield, have registered, but awareness among drivers remains low.<br /><h2>Government crackdown on bike taxis</h2>Meanwhile, the ride-hailing sector in Bengaluru is facing fresh regulatory scrutiny. After massive protests from the Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Associations, the state transport department has announced plans to crack down on bike taxis operating illegally in the city. In March, the Karnataka Government had banned the operation of electric bike taxis in the state after they were deemed “unsafe for women”.<br /><br />The Federation’s demands also include implementing a ‘one city, one fare’ policy, issuing permits to school cabs and buses, regulating private cab aggregators’ commissions, and controlling the pricing of vehicle tracking devices.<br />      <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111496190" title="Bengaluru&amp;#39;s residential real estate market soars as prices shoot up by 32% year on year" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br />

Bengaluru's newest ride-hailing app allows you to book autos via WhatsApp, to follow govt rates

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bd9d6dbf556fc338351abde-2100/gettyimages-1048128662.jpg" border="0" alt="uber ceo dara khosrowshahi" data-mce-source="Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi speaks onstage at Day 1 of the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit 2018 at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on October 9, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California." /><p class="source"><span>Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi speaks onstage at Day 1 of the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit 2018 at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/uber">Uber</a> is expected to file it's initial public offering (IPO) documents as soon as Thursday. </strong></li><li><strong>The company will follow its biggest competitor Lyft to public markets, though Uber's could be ten times larger. </strong></li><li><strong>Uber's IPO could be one of the largest in history. Here's a rundown of what Wall Street is expecting from the company's wide range of businesses and bets. </strong></li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/uber">Uber</a> could file for its initial public offering, or IPO, as soon as today, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/lyft-stock-price-down-after-reports-of-ubers-expected-valuation-2019-4-1028101045?utm_campaign=browser_notification&amp;utm_source=desktop">according to multiple reports. </a></p><p>The ride-hailing giant's offering could be one of the largest in years, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ipo-selling-10-billion-worth-of-stock-sec-2019-4?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest"><span>could raise the tech unicorn more than $10 billion to continue its global expansion</span></a>, but there's one big cloud casting a shadow on everything: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/lyft">Lyft</a>.</p><p>Uber's biggest competitor has about a 35% market share in the United States, and beat the company to public markets last month, netting a valuation of about $18 billion. However, in their first two trading weeks, shared of Lyft have fallen more than 20%, despite an oversubscribed IPO that initially traded well above its initial price.</p><p>Both companies are deeply unprofitable - and provide basically the same basic services - so the competition comes down to other factors: driver pay, market share, and other factors that can help get the companies to positive cash flow.</p><p>"The primary issue is around the underlying metrics that Uber will discuss around take rates, ride sharing data, driver ecosystem, and a myriad of other metrics relative to Lyft which may put the company in a more negative light," Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, said in a note to clients Thursday.</p><p>For many investors, Uber is likely a first-choice thanks not only to its global scale compared to Lyft's North American focus, including foo delivery, self-driving cars, flying taxis and more.</p><h2><strong>Uber for Everything</strong></h2><p>All of those other bets rely on the theory that Uber's platform that now provides taxi rides at the touch of a button (and public transit in one city), can be used for a multitude of other services.</p><p>Uber Eats, the company's food delivery service that's now active in more than 350 markets across dozens of countries. A company executive explained to Business Insider in March that the service<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-eats-executive-interview-why-suburbs-are-key-to-food-delivery-2019-3"><span> showcases the "power of the Uber platform.</span></a>" The company already allows Uber for Business clients to order expensed meals, and is gearing up for groceries soon.</p><p><span><strong><em>Read more: </em></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-eats-executive-interview-why-suburbs-are-key-to-food-delivery-2019-3"><em>An Uber Eats executive reveals the company's surprising strategy for moving beyond taxi rides</em></a></span></p><p>Then there's the company's Advanced Technology Group, or ATG, which is working to develop self-driving cars at its offices in Pittsburgh, Toronto, and San Francisco. A<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sources-describe-questionable-decisions-and-dysfunction-inside-ubers-self-driving-unit-before-one-of-its-cars-killed-a-pedestrian-2018-10"><span> high-profile crash in Arizona that killed a pedestrian in March 2018</span></a> brought massive amounts of scrutiny to the program and caused Uber to temporarily remove its autonomous vehicles from roads where they were operating.</p><p>The company is back to testing, Uber's chief self-driving scientist said on Tuesday, and the company is still investing massive amounts of capital into the software and hardware for its eventual autonomous fleet. After all, self-driving cars are seen by many as the company's only way to profitability given that paying drivers is one of Uber's biggest expenses.</p><p>Other bets don't stop at autonomous taxis, either. Uber's new mobility unit is working to advance its bike and scooter offerings, which began with the company's purchase of Jump Bikes last year. Most recently, its scooters launched in Washington D.C. and London among others. The group, overseen by Rachel Holt in D.C., has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-public-transit-launches-in-denver-mobile-bus-and-train-tickets-2019-1"><span>also launched a public transit integration in Denver, where Uber customers can see options for trains and buses, in addition to car rides</span></a>. The service is powered by the Israeli tech startup Moovit, and also allows users to purchase train tickets directly in the Uber app.</p><p>In the skies, Uber Elevate is working on flying taxis. The group is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-chief-product-officer-jeff-holden-steps-down-2018-5"><span>now overseen by Eric Allison, who previously oversaw the flying car company created by Larry Page called Zee.Aero</span></a>. Allison took over from former chief product officer Jeff Holden in 2018, shortly after the company's annual elevate conference in Los Angeles. This year's elevate conference is set for June in Washington D.C. </p><h2><strong>For now, it's all about rides</strong></h2><p>But until those moonshot services are making money, investors will likely be focused on the company's main ride-hailing business. </p><p>One of Uber and Lyft's biggest expenses remains how much they pay drivers. Both companies have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-drivers-say-company-avoiding-arbitration-lawsuit-2018-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fought hard to maintain drivers' status as independent contractors</a>, meaning the company does not have to provide the same benefits it would to a full-time employee.</p><p>Under the leadership of founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick, Uber's scandals resulted in a huge bump for Lyft. For more than a year, Lyft worked to project itself as the more driver-friendly alternative, and even disclosed in its IPO filings that it got a big boost from Uber's missteps.</p><p>Now, under the leadership of Dara Khosrowshahi, who has led the company since 2017, Uber has taken a different approach. The former Expedia executive summed up the change in one simple sentence: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-dara-khosrowshahi-ends-toe-stepping-practice-2017-11"><span>"We do the right thing. Period."</span></a></p><h2><span>More Uber coverage: </span></h2><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-original-pitch-deck-shows-evolution-ipo-2018-12">Uber's original pitch deck from a decade ago shows just how much the ride-hailing giant has changed</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lyft-uber-compared-ahead-of-ipos-2019-3" data-analytics-position="13">Here's how Uber and Lyft's financials compare as the two companies go public </a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-email-to-employees-about-careem-acquisition-full-text-2019-3" data-analytics-position="8">Read the email Uber's CEO sent employees about the company's $3.1 billion acquisition of a major competitor</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ipo-selling-10-billion-worth-of-stock-sec-2019-4" data-analytics-position="1">Uber plans to sell around $10 billion worth of stock in its IPO, seeks $90 billion valuation</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-atgs-chief-scientist-how-self-driving-cars-will-change-cities-2019-4" data-analytics-position="2">Uber's chief self-driving scientist reveals how different the world will look when autonomous cars eventually roll out</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slaying-puts-focus-on-ride-hailing-safety-fake-drivers-2019-4" data-analytics-position="3">The death of a college student who got into a car she thought was an Uber could spark a crackdown for ride-hailing safety</a></li></ul>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/world-war-ii-hot-rods-belly-fuel-tanks-lakesters-warplane-2019-3">Car builders make hot rods out of World War II fighter plane belly tanks</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/XKyu0nqv-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

You Searched For "bike taxi crackdown" and got 3 results

“They took away my only source of livelihood” — As police impound bike taxis in Bengaluru, captains cry in despair

Ankush Banerjee

Bengaluru's newest ride-hailing app allows you to book autos via WhatsApp, to follow govt rates

BI India Bureau

Uber could file for an IPO any minute - here's what to expect

Graham Rapier

You Searched For "bike taxi crackdown" and got 3 results

“They took away my only source of livelihood” — As police impound bike taxis in Bengaluru, captains cry in despair

Ankush Banerjee

Bengaluru's newest ride-hailing app allows you to book autos via WhatsApp, to follow govt rates

BI India Bureau

Uber could file for an IPO any minute -&#160;here's what to expect

Graham Rapier

Uber could file for an IPO any minute - here's what to expect