Maharashtra Cracks Down on Illegal Bike Taxis, Seeks Removal of Uber, Ola, Rapido Apps From Play Store, App Store
State cyber officials asked Apple and Google to remove the apps after saying the companies kept offering illegal bike taxi services despite repeated warnings.
- On Friday, the Maharashtra State Cyber Department issued notices to Apple and Google demanding removal of Ola, Uber, and Rapido over alleged illegal bike taxi operations in the state.
- Maharashtra revoked the platforms' provisional 30-day licenses in March 2026 after companies failed to transition to electric-only bike taxis required under the Maharashtra Bike-Taxi Rules.
- State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik alleged platforms shielded riders from enforcement, with authorities detecting 715 Rapido-linked, 43 Uber-linked, and 18 Ola-linked bike taxis between April 2025 and March 2026.
- By Saturday, Maharashtra Cyber paused the removal plan while officials explored ways to disable bike taxi features without blocking entire applications.
- The enforcement actions threaten roughly 15,000 bike taxi riders in Mumbai; The Maharashtra Bike Taxi Welfare Association requested a 12 to 18-month transition period for the EV mandate.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Maharashtra govt gets cold feet a day after ordering Ola, Uber, Rapido off app stores. Here’s why
The state served notices to Apple and Google on Friday seeking removal of three ride-hailing apps. By Saturday, it was having second thoughts and legal experts say the notices were never going to be easy to defend.
Maharashtra cracks down on illegal bike taxis, seeks removal of Uber, Ola, Rapido apps from Play Store, App Store
The Maharashtra Cyber Department has ordered Google and Apple to remove ride-hailing apps Uber, Ola, and Rapido for unauthorised bike taxi operations. Authorities cite inadequate safety measures and legal violations, prompting potential legal action against these companies if compliance fails.
Maharashtra government seeks immediate shutdown of the 'bike taxi' feature of app-based aggregators
The Maharashtra cyber cell told CNBC-TV18 that it is the responsibility of the app aggregators and the platforms to remove the 'bike taxi' option. "How they do that without disabling the entire app is not our problem. Bike tax is illegal and that needs to be removed," the Maharashtra cyber cell said.
Maharashtra government sent notice to Google and Apple, ordered to remove Ola-Uber-Rapido apps from the platform.
Knews Desk- The problems of companies providing bike taxi services like Ola, Uber and Rapido seem to be increasing. Taking strict action against these companies, the Maharashtra government has sent notices to Google and Apple demanding the removal of these apps from their platforms. The government alleges that these companies are running bike taxi services without following the necessary permissions and rules. Action taken by Maharashtra Cyber …
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 40% of the sources are Center, 40% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
