Bengaluru’s bustling streets are set to lose their two-wheeled ride-hailing edge as the Karnataka High Court, on April 2, 2025, ordered app-based bike taxi services like Rapido, Uber, and Ola to slam the brakes within six weeks.

Justice BM Shyam Prasad’s ruling, following petitions from these aggregators, declared that bike taxis can’t roll until the state crafts rules under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The court tossed out pleas for aggregator licenses, leaving the industry in a skid.

The decision resurrects a 2021 state ban, which had sparked this legal showdown. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy cheered the verdict, citing safety risks from unregulated operations. “These platforms were running wild,” he said, welcoming the court’s three-month deadline for the government to draft regulations.

Until then, Karnataka’s roads will stay off-limits to bike taxis, a stark contrast to Delhi and Maharashtra, where policies recently greenlit similar services.

The aggregators aren’t backing down. Executives, per The Economic Times, vowed to appeal, leaning on the Centre’s view of motorcycles as contract carriages—though states hold the regulatory reins.

Rapido, a Karnataka-born giant with 10 lakh riders and 20 lakh weekly rides, lamented the hit to its captains’ livelihoods. “We’ll weigh our legal options once we see the full order,” a spokesperson said, underscoring the service’s role in the state’s transport tapestry.

For Bengaluru’s commuters, it’s a jolt—bike taxis were a zippy fix in a traffic-choked city. For the industry, it’s a nationwide wake-up call: adapt to local rules or face the curb. As Karnataka drafts its playbook, the clock’s ticking on two-wheeled innovation.