Pune District Magistrate Jitendra Dudi has directed authorities to immediately stop bike-taxi services operating without official government permission and asked the Regional Transport Office to act against app-based auto-rickshaw aggregators that impose fares beyond the rates approved by the Regional Transport Authority.
Dudi issued the instructions on Thursday, October 15, during a meeting attended by transport officials, traffic police, auto-rickshaw unions and representatives of aggregator companies. He warned that bike-taxi operators could face administrative action if they continued services without authorisation, whether the operations were described as experimental or regular.
The direction follows growing complaints about bike-taxi services and alleged violations by aggregator companies. Auto-rickshaw unions at the meeting demanded that bike taxis not be permitted to operate in Pune. Nitin Pawar, president of the Rickshaw Panchayat, was among the union representatives present.
The administration’s position is centred on the legal authority to regulate fares. The Regional Transport Authority is responsible for determining auto-rickshaw fares, but aggregator companies display their own prices on their apps and collect fares based on those rates, according to Pawar’s submission at the meeting. He said this practice leads passengers to insist on paying app-displayed fares instead of the meter-based fare.
Dudi agreed with the concern and instructed the Regional Transport Officer to initiate action to control what the administration described as arbitrary fares charged by the companies. The order places the issue within the existing regulatory framework for auto-rickshaw fares rather than leaving pricing entirely to app-based platforms.
The meeting brought together officials from multiple agencies involved in urban transport enforcement. Those present included Regional Transport Officer Archana Gaikwad, Pimpri-Chinchwad Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Police Vikrant Deshmukh, Deputy Regional Transport Officer Swapnil Bhosale, representatives of several auto-rickshaw organisations and aggregator companies.
The bike-taxi instruction also highlights the regulatory uncertainty surrounding app-based two-wheeler passenger services in Pune. The district administration said such services do not have official government permission at present and directed that they be stopped until that permission is obtained. The instruction applies regardless of whether the service is presented as a trial or a regular operation.
For commuters, the decisions affect two separate parts of app-based urban mobility: the availability of bike taxis and the fare displayed for auto-rickshaw rides booked through aggregators. The administration’s next steps will depend on enforcement by transport authorities and traffic police, as well as action taken against companies that continue operating or charging fares outside the authorised framework.
