Rapido, which gained popularity pretty quickly for offering a bit cheaper rides, will no longer be available for people who are based in Maharashtra. The Bombay High Court has directed the company to suspend its bike-taxi service after it was discovered that Rapido didn’t have a license to operate, which basically means that it is operating illegally in the country.
The company was asked to submit proof of its legal operations, but Rapido couldn’t provide the material in court. So, the bike-taxi service will be required to suspend its services and the company has agreed to shut its services by 1:00PM starting today. The court has directed Rapido to shut its 2-wheeler passenger service, 2-wheeler parcel service, and auto service.
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Rapido had asked the Maharashtra government to grant it a license to operate two-wheeler bike taxis in the state, but its request was dismissed because the state hasn’t yet devised a policy to run operations of only bike taxis. While the company has agreed to shut its operations, the court has said that a ban will be placed on Rapido till January 20, according to Economic Times.
The court has also slammed the Maharashtra government for framing an unreliable policy permitting bike taxis in the state while also asking for clarity on policy or guidelines for two-wheeler taxi services. The advocate general Birendra Saraf, who was present in the court for the government, has asserted that prosecution against other taxi services like Uber who also have bike taxis has been initiated. Following this, the court told the government that it “cannot keep the issue hanging over the fire and has to take a decision immediately.”
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Besides, popular ride-hailing company Ola has reportedly fired as many as 200 people from its company. The layoffs are done in Technology and Product teams. This is not the first time that the company has fired people. Last year, the cab aggregator fired close to 1100 employees, as per reports. Ola has cited layoffs as a part of the restructuring exercise. The reason for the layoff is not surprising because this is something that a lot of companies are saying as part of their layoff process. The employees working in Ola Cabs, Ola Electric, and Ola Financial Services verticals were affected by the layoffs.
