The Pune regional transport office has filed an FIR against Roppen Transport Services Pvt Ltd, the operator of Rapido, alleging that the company continued running bike taxi services in the city without the required approvals and used petrol-powered private two-wheelers for passenger transport.
The FIR, numbered 0517/2026, was registered at Vishrantwadi police station at about 11.45pm on Friday after Pune collector Jitendra Dudi, who heads the regional transport authority, directed the aggregator to stop its bike taxi service within a day. An RTO official told the Times of India that the service was still operating after the deadline, prompting the complaint.
The complaint was filed by RTO inspector Prasad Survase. It cites Section 318(8) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sections 66, 93, 192(A), 193 and 197 of the Motor Vehicles Act, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act. The provisions cited in the FIR relate to alleged cheating, the use of private vehicles for public transport, operating without the required licence or permit and other violations.
According to the FIR, the RTO team conducted a test booking through the Rapido application at about 6.44pm on October 16. The booking was for a ride from Commerce Zone in Yerwada to Kothrud bus depot. The application showed a distance of 13km and a fare of Rs 179. A petrol-powered motorcycle arrived for the pickup, after which the inspector and his team questioned the rider, confiscated the vehicle and issued a challan under provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. The vehicle was subsequently taken to Vishrantwadi police station.
The RTO alleged that Rapido was facilitating bike taxi operations using non-transport two-wheelers without approval. The complaint stated that this bypassed regulatory requirements and raised passenger safety concerns. Despite the action, the bike taxi option was still visible on the Rapido platform, according to the report.
Rapido representatives had told the regional transport authority at a meeting on Thursday that the service was being operated as a trial run. The company had been sent a copy of the FIR and asked for a response, but its comment was awaited at the time of publication.
The dispute follows earlier proceedings over Rapido’s bike taxi operations in Pune. The RTO had stopped the service in December 2022, and the Bombay High Court rejected the company’s plea against that decision in January 2023. Pune RTO officials have said that Rapido and Uber had applied to operate bike taxis under the state’s bike taxi policy, but that approval was still pending.
The state policy cited by the RTO requires bike taxi services to comply with specified operational norms, including the use of electric two-wheelers. The FIR now places the continuation of Rapido’s Pune operations under police and transport department scrutiny. The immediate next steps will depend on the investigation and the regulatory authority’s decision on the pending applications.
