The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought response from the State government on whether the operation of two-wheeler aggregators would be permitted or not permitted.
A Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel was hearing a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to the State government to enact and enforce a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework governing aggregators in Tamil Nadu, including the operation of bike taxi services.
The petitioner, R. Naveen Kumar of Madurai, said that in recent years, App-based bike taxi services operated through digital aggregators such as Rapido, Ola, Uber, etc.., have become an integral part of the transport ecosystem in Tamil Nadu.
These services provide essential last-mile connectivity and serve as a primary source of livelihood. However, a critical regulatory vacuum exists due to the State government’s failure to notify a specific scheme for non-transport motorcycles used for passenger aggregation, he said.
He said the regulatory vacuum had created problems in two major aspects - absence of safety standards and accountability which resulted in threat to public safety and absence of State mechanism to obtain permits thereby affecting the livelihood of riders.
The State government is empowered and duty-bound under Section 67(3) and Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, and the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025 to regulate such services, he said.
He sought a direction to the State to enact and enforce a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework governing aggregators in Tamil Nadu, including the operation of bike taxi services in the light of Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025.
He also sought a direction to the State to take necessary steps permitting the registration of motorcycles as transport vehicles and grant appropriate permits enabling their lawful operation in terms of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the Rules.
The court posted the matter for hearing to August 3.
Published - July 14, 2026 10:43 pm IST