Pune police have registered a case against Ropen Transport Pvt. Ltd., which operates the Rapido platform, after the Regional Transport Office alleged that the company facilitated passenger transport through petrol-powered two-wheelers without permission from the Regional Transport Authority.
The case was registered at the Vishrantwadi police station following a complaint by Prasad Surwase, a motor vehicle inspector with the Pune Regional Transport Office. The complaint states that Rapido had created an application for passenger transport and that rides were being arranged online through the platform.
According to police information cited in the complaint, the Regional Transport Authority had not granted permission for petrol-engine two-wheelers to operate as bike taxis for passenger transport in the jurisdiction. The RTO approached the police after observing that passenger services were being conducted through Rapido’s application despite the absence of that permission.
The case has been registered under Section 318(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Information Technology Act. The complaint alleges that passenger transport was being conducted illegally and that the government had been defrauded. These allegations will be examined during the police investigation.
The development places Pune’s app-based two-wheeler passenger services under renewed regulatory scrutiny. Unlike conventional taxi operations, a bike-taxi platform depends on the interaction between digital booking systems, vehicle-use permissions and transport authorisations. In this case, the RTO’s complaint focuses on the alleged operation of the service without approval for petrol-powered motorcycles to carry passengers.
The police case does not, by itself, establish the final liability of the company. The allegations in the complaint will have to be tested through the investigation and subsequent legal proceedings. The report does not specify the number of rides, riders or passengers allegedly involved, nor does it state whether any arrests have been made.
Police Sub-Inspector Raut is investigating the case, according to the report. The next steps will depend on the investigation into the app-based bookings, the vehicles used for passenger transport and the permissions applicable to the service.
