Pune, Oct 17 A case has been registered against Roppen Transport Pvt Ltd, the parent company of aggregator Rapido, after transport officials caught a rider operating an unauthorised bike-taxi during a decoy operation, officials said on Saturday.
A complaint was lodged at Vishrantwadi police station following an operation by a Regional Transport Office (RTO) road safety squad, which booked a ride via the Rapido app on Friday to confirm that the aggregator continues to operate illegally despite rejections by courts and regulatory bodies, they said.
An RTO official booked a 13-km ride from Yerawada to the Kothrud bus depot via the Rapido app for Rs 179. Shortly after, a rider arrived on a petrol-powered two-wheeler registered under the non-transport category.
RTO inspectors immediately took possession of the vehicle and issued a challan under the Motor Vehicles Act.
The crackdown follows a meeting on Thursday chaired by Pune Collector and Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Chairman Jitendra Dudi, who directed Rapido to completely suspend operations in Pune district until it obtains a valid e-bike aggregator license.
The Pune RTA had previously rejected the company’s licence application on December 20, 2022. Subsequent challenges filed by Rapido were dismissed by the Bombay High Court in January 2023 — which directed the app to shut down — and later by the Supreme Court.
While the company submitted a fresh application for an aggregator licence on August 11 this year, regulatory approval remains pending.
The police have now registered a case under section 318(3) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Information Technology Act, 2000, officials said.
(PTI News)
