Rapido, Ola, Uber change bike taxi to parcel delivery service on app

Ride-hailing platforms Rapido, Ola and Uber suspended bike taxi services in Karnataka on Monday, complying with a state high court directive, and instead switched to offering a courier service.

Uber has changed its bike-taxi option to 'moto courier'. Rapido, which had earlier renamed its bike-taxi service as 'bike parcel', has now removed that option; the service is now available inside a dropdown menu under the parcel option. Ola, meanwhile, is displaying a parcel delivery option instead of the bike-taxi segment.

Some users have been speculating that the move is a ploy to game the system. “Uber and Rapido have renamed their bike taxi options to bike parcel following the ban starting today. Well played, I guess?,” said a user on X.


“Since karnataka hc has banned bike taxis, Rapido is offering you to become a parcel and get delivered (sic),” said another user.

In a note on its app, Rapido said, "While we deeply believe in the value bike taxis bring to daily commuters, we respect the law and will fully abide by the directive." The company said it is working with the government to bring bike taxis back on the road.

Concerns remain

The ban is likely to affect 50,000-60,000 gig workers across the state. While the parcel delivery service offers them a ray of hope, union leaders have a different opinion.

“After the ban, the apps have made changes to the software to say they are using their bikes for delivery but they will be putting the gig workers job at risk again if they are not being transparent about it,” Shaik Salauddin, TGPWU founder president, told ET.