Uber says Delhi’s e-bike taxi plans will ‘finish off’ the industry

The Delhi government’s proposal to restrict bike taxis by permitting only electric cars raised concerns for Uber, which expressed those concerns on Friday.

The corporation said in a blog post that the move ran the risk of “finishing off the sector,” may have an impact on the livelihood of more than 100,000 city drivers, and could influence the transportation requirements of at least a million commuters.

Steep and impractical Electric vehicles standards might lead to the sector’s demise, the San Francisco-based business warned in the blog post. It is obvious that millions of Delhi residents’ mobility demands and means of subsistence will be significantly impacted by such a choice.

The proposal to exclusively allow electric two-wheelers to operate as bike taxis is being finalized in Delhi, according to the news agency PTI. According to transport minister Kailash Gahlot, the aggregator policy for two-, three-, and four-wheelers would be put into effect soon.

The Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, was violated, and the Delhi government’s transport department on Monday forbade bike taxis with private registration marks. They also imposed a punishment of at least 5,000 rupees for using private cars for business purposes. But delivery businesses like Swiggy and Zomato are exempt from the prohibition.

With this change, the country embarks on an ambitious transition to clean energy mobility and electric vehicles.

The ride-hailing application Uber also emphasized the significance of establishing “fair playing fields” across industries and urged the local government to start talks to forge a cooperative course of action.

The blog post stated that the time is ideal for a wider industry debate, as the Delhi government considers a legal framework that will probably only let EV’s operate as bike taxis.

The corporation has set a 2040 goal of having all of its trips be made via micro mobility, public transportation, or zero-emission vehicles, including in India. The introduction of 25,000 EVs over a three-year period in India was a plan Uber unveiled earlier this month.