Starting today, bike taxis are officially banned across Karnataka following a High Court directive, marking yet another blow to affordable transport options in cities like Belagavi—where they never really took off in the first place.
While metro cities witnessed some traction for bike taxi services, Belagavi remained largely untouched by the trend. Neither Ola nor Uber managed to establish a significant presence here, Thanks to Autos. And now, with the state government’s clear disinterest in framing a dedicated policy for bike taxis, even the faint hope of low-cost last-mile connectivity has been quashed.
The Karnataka High Court refused to stay the earlier order by a single-judge bench suspending all bike taxi operations under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Despite arguments from aggregators that central government guidelines should prevail in the absence of state rules, the court held firm. The state, for its part, has outright declined to even consider drafting a bike taxi policy—closing the door on interim relief.
In Belagavi, where public transport is already insufficient, the ban only adds to the woes of daily commuters. With auto fares notoriously high and largely unregulated, many hoped that bike taxis would inject some much-needed competition into the system. But the local “autocracy” continues to operate unchecked, dictating fares and routes with little oversight, while citizens are left with few affordable or efficient options.
Despite repeated concerns raised by the public, the state government seems reluctant to take any firm action to regulate auto fares or offer alternatives. For a growing city like Belagavi, where students, workers, and elderly citizens struggle daily for reliable transport, the silence from policymakers is disappointing.
As the debate continues in the courts and on paper, the people of Belagavi continue to pay the price—quite literally—for the government’s inaction.