bengaluru its been 16 months since the state government unveiled the karnataka electric bike taxi scheme while three firms rapido bounce and metroride have so far applied for ebike taxi permits the transport department hasnt issued the same to anyonein july 2021 the government unveiled the ambitious scheme to allow ebike taxis to help provide first and lastmile connectivity mainly at metro bus and railway stations however the proposal remains on paper we are waiting for a licence for bike taxi said vivekananda hallekere ceo cofounder bouncetimesviewebike taxis play an important role in providing first and lastmile connectivity bengaluru has limited options for public transport users in the absence of shared erickshaws and taxis and inadequate feeder buses electric bike taxis will be faster cheaper and also play a role in fixing lastmile connectivity woes for metro and bus users also many illegal bike taxi firms are operational in the city allowing ebike taxis under the purview of the transport department is expected to ensure the safety of users it also may create employment opportunities for youngsters and also create an affordable lastmile connectivity option bike taxis are already popular in places like goa and it should be emulated in bengaluru as wellgirish nagpal ceo and founder of metroride said we have submitted all documents and applied for the bike taxi permit at jayanagar rto our plan is to deploy electric bike taxis from metro stations like konanakunte indiranagar yelachenahalli jp nagar byappanahalli and vajarahalli we will deploy electric bike taxis as soon as we get permission from the transport department passengers will be able to use them to and from metro stations through our app mainly for first and lastmile connectivity within 10km at present metroride is running electric autos from select metro stationswhen contacted a senior transport department official said rapido applied for a permit but we rejected their application since they operate petrolrun twowheelers this scheme is only for electric taxis bounce applied for a permit but we have sought some additional details another operator metroride too applied but we are now verifying the documents submitted by the firm at present at least two appbased aggregators are operating petrolrun bike taxis without permissionmany passengers said electric bike taxis should be allowed when many operators are illegally operating petrolrun bike taxis why is the transport department not allowing ebike taxis which will benefit public transport users wondered aravind kumar a metro user from indiranagarthe transport department has proposed a fare of rs 25 for the first 5km and rs 50 for 10km many commuters said ebike taxis would be a good cheap option considering there are no shared auto or taxi services in the cityebike taxis will be cheaper than autos and taxis for autos the minimum fare for the first 2km is rs 30 and for every additional km it is rs 15 in appbased cab aggregators such as ola and uber commuters pay a minimum of rs 75 for small cabs