The State Transport Authority (STA) in Maharashtra has officially approved provisional licenses for leading app-based taxi companies Ola, Uber, and Rapido to launch bike taxi services across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. This decision includes setting a minimum fare of ₹15 for the first 1.5 kilometers, according to transport officials.
The STA meeting minutes confirm that this provisional approval comes with a crucial stipulation: these companies must secure permanent licenses within one month, adhering to all regulations outlined in the Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules 2025.
Specifically, the parent companies – ANI Technologies Private Limited (Ola), Uber India Systems Private Limited (Uber), and Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (Rapido) – have been granted this initial nod.
Out of four applications received by the transport department over the past two months for bike taxi operations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), only these three companies received provisional licenses.
An application from Smart-Ride, another aspiring operator, was unfortunately rejected by the STA due to its inability to meet the essential operational requirements.
The Maharashtra State government officially rolled out the new Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules 2025 via a government resolution. As announced by officials on Monday, September 15, 2025, the STA has set the minimum bike taxi fare at ₹15 for the initial 1.5 km.
Beyond this initial distance, passengers will be charged ₹10.27 per kilometer for the service.
These new statewide fares, approved during an STA meeting on August 18 and chaired by State Transport Secretary Sanjay Sethi, will apply across Maharashtra, confirmed a regional transport office (RTO) official.
The authority explained that the bike taxi fares were calculated using the proven Khatua panel formula, which is also used for determining auto-rickshaw and taxi rates.
A review of these bike taxi fares is scheduled to take place after one year.
It’s worth noting that in January 2023, the government had issued a resolution explicitly banning the use of private or non-transport category two-wheelers for app-based services.
Despite this earlier prohibition, some companies continued to offer app-based bike taxi services in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, often utilizing private two-wheelers.
This led the transport department to file First Information Reports (FIRs) against several aggregators operating illegally and imposing dynamic, unregulated fares.
Crucially, the newly approved bike taxi fares are substantially more affordable than the minimum charges for traditional black-and-yellow taxis and auto-rickshaws in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
For comparison, passengers currently pay a minimum of ₹31 for black-and-yellow taxis and ₹26 for auto-rickshaws.