Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Wednesday caught a Rapido bike taxi red-handed while it was illegally ferrying passengers through its mobile app, despite the state government not having granted official permission to any such bike taxi services.

The state government recently announced an e-bike policy, which allows only electric bike taxi services that meet specific terms and conditions to operate legally. As a result, all currently operating bike taxi services that do not meet these criteria are deemed unauthorized.

When Sarnaik inquired with the Transport Department about the presence of such services in Mumbai and other cities, he was officially informed that no unauthorized bike taxi apps were in operation. To verify the claim, Sarnaik booked a ride on the Rapido app using a dummy name.