Maharashtra Minister Pratap Sarnaik’s Sting Operation Exposes Illegal Bike Taxi Services
Mumbai: Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik conducted a surprise sting operation to expose illegal bike taxi services operating in Mumbai. Disguised under a false identity, Sarnaik booked a Rapido bike ride on Wednesday to test whether such services were still running, despite lacking regulatory approval.
The rider, unaware of his VIP passenger’s identity, drove straight into a trap laid out by transport department officials and was caught red-handed. However, Sarnaik directed that no action be taken against the bike rider, stating that the driver was just an employee. He insisted that the company running the illegal operation — not the workers — should be held accountable.
The minister revealed that he had earlier been informed by his department that bike taxis were not operational, but his sting operation proved otherwise. He remarked, “I want action against app operators, not the bike owners. My own officers misled me; I’ll investigate that too.”
On April 1, the state cabinet had released a draft policy stating that only electric bikes meeting government standards would be allowed to operate as bike taxis. However, this policy is yet to be approved, making all existing bike taxi operations technically illegal in Maharashtra.
Sarnaik’s office later issued a statement confirming that no official permission had been given for Rapido or similar services to operate in the state.
In a similar case on July 19, Azad Maidan Police registered a case against Uber and Rapido after RTO officers booked dummy rides and found that private bikes with white number plates were being used for commercial purposes.
Neither Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar nor Rapido responded to queries.