Bike taxi startup Rapido plans to ramp up hiring of women captains

India's largest bike taxi platform has also filed for the bike taxi service application with the State Transport Authority in Karnataka

Rapido, India’s largest bike taxi platform, has filed for the bike taxi service application with the State Transport Authority in Karnataka. It also plans to hire 100 women captains in Bengaluru by the end of 2022. With the impact of the pandemic on families, ease of lockdown restrictions and increasing demand for bike taxi rides, the company aims to adopt a bullish growth strategy for Bengaluru and be committed towards creating more reliable jobs in the city.

“As a company, we strongly believe in and are committed to the ethos of inclusive growth. Our women captains have witnessed financial independence by riding with Rapido and we would like to extend this income opportunity to the women in Bengaluru,” said Pavan Guntupalli, co-Founder, Rapido. “The city is one of our top cities in terms of usage and with the ongoing updates in the legal framework for our operations, we want to on-board more women captains to give the local sheroes a chance to become economically independent through a safer, choice based and support led experience.”

The company said the biggest advantage of joining Rapido is its flexible work timing and the recently announced #HelpForHelmetHeroes programme. The company has made provisions to reduce the burden of financial, physical, and mental worries so that the captain’s livelihood is not majorly impacted by the pandemic.The company also plans to provide rental electric 2W for potential Captains that can help them earn an income as per their convenience.

With the recent order by the Karnataka High Court, ambiguity regarding bike taxi legality is now set to resolve. Rapido said interested candidates can confidently join the firm as captains to earn income utilising their bikes as taxis, without any fear of implications and objections.

Rapido said the Karnataka High Court in a recent case filed by a leading transport aggregator has observed that under the law, a motorcycle taxi can be used for hire on which a passenger could be carried on pillion. The firm said the Court further observed that a motorcycle taxi has been categorized as a transport vehicle by the Central Government under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Therefore, in light of the provisions under law, the Court allowed various aggregators to make their respective applications to the relevant State Road Transport Authority for renting of motorcycle or taxi service for hire.

Rapido has also filed its application with the State Transport Authority for motorcycle or taxi service and is looking forward to a positive response. Rapido said it is also working very closely with various state governments and is open to working with the Karnataka Government to frame guidelines for regulating the same.