The petitioners challenging the state’s blanket ban on bike taxis argued in Karnataka High Court on Wednesday that the service plays a vital role in urban mobility and must be allowed to operate under existing legal provisions. “They are a necessity, not a luxury,” they said.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice C M Joshi was hearing appeals filed by ride-hailing platforms Ola, Uber, and Rapido, as well as bike taxi owners and associations, against an earlier ruling by a single judge that effectively outlawed…