What played out in Nagpur looked like something straight out of a movie. To crack down on bike taxi services running without permits across Maharashtra, a transport department officer posed as an ordinary passenger and booked a Rapido ride for just ₹22, and that tiny fare turned into a big legal headache for the company. Following the secret operation, an FIR has been registered at the Sitabardi police station in Nagpur against the three founders of the company behind the Rapido app, Rishikesh SR, Pawan Guntupalli and Aravind Sanka.
No Permit To Run The Service
According to the complaint, Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited, the parent company of the Rapido app, holds neither the Maharashtra government's nor the Regional Transport Authority's (RTA) permission or legal permit to operate a petrol bike taxi service in the state. Despite that, the company was putting private petrol bikes to commercial use, ferrying paying passengers.
How The Trap Was Set
The episode dates back to 23 June, when the Nagpur (city) Regional Transport Office launched a special drive against illegal passenger transport. During the operation, Motor Vehicle Inspector Vishal Madhukarrao Bhovte opened the Rapido app on his own phone and booked a ride from Ravi Bhavan to Priyadarshini Colony, with the fare showing up as only ₹22.
Within minutes a bike pulled up at the designated pickup point. The moment the officer got on as a passenger, the team surrounded the vehicle. It was taken to the RTO office for inspection, which confirmed that the privately registered white-plate two-wheeler was being run like a taxi without any of the required commercial licence or permit. The RTO seized the bike on the spot.
The Sections Invoked
The three promoters have been booked under sections 318(3) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with sections 66, 93, 192A, 193 and 199 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Section 66(d) of the Information Technology (IT) Act has also been added for running an illegal network through the app.
