Ola and Uber launch bike taxi services in Bengaluru

March 3, 2016

Bengaluru, Mar 3: On demand transportation providers Ola and Uber have announced the launch of bike taxi pilots in Bengaluru on the same day, starting at a minimum fare of Rs. 15, for UberMoto, and Rs. 30 for Ola Bikes.

olabikeUberMoto has been launched at Rs. 3 per kilometre, and Rs. 1 per minute of trip time, while Ola bikes are available at an introductory fare of Rs. 2 per km and Re. 1 per minute of trip time.

Ola app lists Bikes as the first option on its app, though we weren't able to find any available bike taxis in the vicinity. The UberMoto option wasn't available on the app at the time of filing, and the company said that will go live on Thursday.

In an emailed statement, Ola said that bike taxis will offer the same features as its cab service, including includes driver details displayed upfront, SOS, live tracking and seamless payment using Ola Money. Additionally, all pillion riders will be provided with helmets as mandated for their safety.

Uber said that it offers GPS tracking, 2-way feedback, and the ability to share trip details with family and friends. It is also taking registrations from people who own motorbikes and scooters to become drivers on the platform and recoup the costs of their trips.

Uber had launched its first motorcycle scheme in Thailand's capital Bangkok a week ago, where it competes with GrabTaxi, which already lets users book motorcycle taxis in some South East Asian countries.

"This will help users get to where they want to be within minutes, especially in traffic prone cities like ours," said Pranay Jivrajka, Chief Operating Officer at Ola. "We expect significant demand in the pilot phase and we will continue to scale this service up in the coming weeks to cover more areas in the city and serve more users."

"Enabling transportation at the push of a button, UberMoto will offer another affordable mobility option that will help people save time and money while helping cut congestion in our cities over time," said Amit Jain, President, Uber India.

Other startups operating in the two-wheeler on-demand taxi space include Baxi and M-taxi, which operate in Haryana, the second state in India to allow bike taxis as a mode of public transport.

HeyTaxi, which operates as a ride share and on demand delivery service in Mumbai and Bengaluru was reportedly told by the Mumbai's RTO division to shut down as it lacks government sanction, but is currently operational all across Mumbai, said Vikram Lakhotia, in an email to Gadgets 360. The app was functional and accepting bookings at the time of writing.

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Priyanka Sharma
 - 
Thursday, 3 Mar 2016

for bike tax also need to put two helmets, it wont run with helmet.

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Shodhan Prasad
May 14,2020

Dubai: The father of a 16-year old girl who came on a visit visa to the UAE to visit him is desperate for help as she has been hospitalised, even as he has been rendered jobless.

On February 6, Amber D’Couto flew into Dubai from Mangaluru, India, along with her older sister, Alison, 19. The girls wanted to visit their dad Vivian D’Couto who was working in an automobile company at Jebel Ali.

The father was overjoyed to meet his girls until things took an ugly turn.

Two months into her stay, Amber fell seriously ill, even as D’Couto was served a termination letter by his company.

D’Couto said his daughter, a Grade 10 student, was perfectly healthly but suddenly developed high fever and began vomiting. She was rushed to a private hospital in Qusais which could not accommodate her because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

On April 30, she was admitted to another private hospital in the same area. After testing negative for COVID-19 thrice, she was diagnosed with acute pancreatis and Rheumatoid fever.

While the girl remains in hospital, the bill has spiralled to over Dh50,000, D’Couto said, adding that without a job now, he had no means to pay the huge amount.

“Amber is a very sweet child and a very bright student. She was living a very healthy life prior to coming to Dubai. But she is so ill now and under round-the-clock vigil in the ICU. The treatment for her condition is very specific and costly.”

A worried man, he said: “My daughter was on a visit visa and she had no insurance. We appeal to compassionate people to help us out in this difficult hour. Due to the current situation, I have lost my job and I am unable to pay for her medical expenses. Her condition has not stabilised yet and I am taking each day as it comes. I trust the doctors to help her recover, and we hope to be repatriated to India at the earliest so she can get further medical care.”

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News Network
April 13,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 13: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President and former Minister D K Shivakumar has demanded resignation of Minister In-Charge of COVID-19 for his alleged irresponsible comment, despite holding a responsible post.

Mr Shivakumar's comments came after Dr Sudhakar on Sunday shared a picture of him and his children in a swimming pool, on Twitter with a caption, ''After a long time joined my children for swimming hope maintaining social distance here as well…hahaha.''

However, Dr Sudhakar deleted the tweet from his account, soon after he was criticised for sharing such a picture, when the country is facing a health crisis.

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News Network
March 3,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 3: Bengaluru mayor Gautam Kumar on Tuesday said that the decision to ban protests in front of Town Hall was made by the council and not only by him.

"The decision to ban the protest in front of the Town Hall was made by the entire council and not only my decision. Also, the things which are approved by the councillor are also read by the ruling party leaders," Bengaluru mayor told media.

"Still it is the discretion of the Commissioner to take a call after the council also. As of now, we have banned any protests in front of Town Hall," he added.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders staged a protest against Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Mayor Gautam Kumar and BJP at Council BBMP building against the decision.

"If people will start protesting, it will badly affect the traffic of the city," said Kumar, while commenting on the protest. If they want to talk about the matter, let us have a healthy discussion. I don't have a problem with and I don't think the ruling party has a problem too," he added.

On Sunday, pro-Kannada activist and former MLA Vatal Nagraj staged a protest in front of Sir KP Puttanna Chetty Town Hall (Bangalore Town Hall) against the decision taken by Bengaluru mayor.

Talking to reporters, Nagraj had said: "He does not know the history of the Town Hall. It is a historic building and protests can be staged there."

"Mayor's decision is against Bengaluru's tradition and culture, that's why we are condemning it and are protesting against this decision. We will not allow Mayor's programs in Bengaluru and he will be shown black flags", he added.

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