Chandigarh: Private vehicles used as bike taxis, 24 challaned

Chandigarh, October 4

The State Transport Authority (STA) has started cracking down on illegal bike taxis of various companies operating in the city. On Wednesday, about 25 bike taxi drivers were challaned. The action was taken against them on the orders of the Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI).

Fined Rs 10K each

• Bike taxis of various companies bearing private number plates challaned by the STA
• A fine of Rs 10,000 each imposed on them since no licence has been issued to them by STA
• Cab drivers have been seeking a ban on illegal bike taxis

All of them are being challaned for carrying out business activities on private number plates. A fine of Rs 10,000 has been imposed on each of them. According to the STA, all bike taxis running on white number plates in the city are illegal.

No licence has been issued to them by the STA. According to the department, the drive is being carried out by a team every day and 25-30 challans are being issued. On Wednesday, a team was stationed around Elante mall and bike taxis running on white number plates were stopped and challaned.

According to the rules, commercial activity cannot be done on vehicles bearing white number plates. For that, a yellow number plate is issued separately by the STA. Various unions of cab drivers had been demanding a ban on bike taxis for several months. Recently, a joint meeting of several cab drivers’ unions was also held with STA officials. Only after this, the action was taken by the STA.