Bengaluru RTO seizes motorcycle taxis of Uber and Ola

Bengaluru's Regional Transport Authority has seized all bike taxis of online taxi service providers Uber and Ola for operating without the required permit. Transport officials said for operating taxi services these vehicles have to be converted to transport vehicles.

According to a senior official, this is not necessary while they were being run as non-transport vehicles. The company had not obtained the permit for transport vehicles from the transport department.

 ''The bikes cannot ply as taxis as they have to procure the permit from the state transport authority, the Deccan Herald reported. ''The bike taxis are illegal also because they don't have the right licence. We will not allow them to operate.''

Meanwhile, the popular ride-sharing app Uber has launched a new motorcycle service in Bangkok, with the trial starting in a few parts of Thailand's sprawling capital. The service might be expanded throughout Asia.

"This is the first city to launch UberMOTO, as we call it, anywhere in the world," said Douglas Ma, the head of Uber's Asia-Pacific expansion www.abc.net.au reported.

The service would work on lines similar to the booking app, with passengers using their smartphone to book freelance motorcycle riders, who will give them a helmet.

A similar concept, called Grab Bike, was already in existence in Thailand as also over 83,000 registered motorcycle taxis riders who wear orange vests and wait for customers on street corners.

A major concern for passengers is the price. While traditional moto taxis negotiated rates for each journey, UberMOTO had set the booking fee at $0.38, plus an additional $0.13 for each kilometre.

A rating system would encourage safe riding and the trip details can be shared with friends and family for security.

Each rider would have his/her own insurance, in case of an accident, and according to Uber, its policy would act as a backup to insure injured passengers for up to $9,500.