Summary
A bike-taxi aggregator's licence application in Maharashtra was rejected by the Pune transport authority in December 2022 for non-compliance with the Central Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020, and the Bombay High Court declined relief; meanwhile the State on 19 January 2023 prohibited aggregation and ride-pooling of non-transport vehicles pending a committee's report, which the aggregator challenged under Article 32. The Supreme Court held that under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 an aggregator needs a State licence and the Central guidelines, which the State 'may follow', are persuasive not mandatory; it declined to entertain the Article 32 challenge, leaving the aggregator to Article 226 uninfluenced by the High Court's observations, and fixed 15 March 2023 for the committee's report and 31 March 2023 for the State's decision.
Issues
- Whether the Central Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020 bind a State Government in deciding an aggregator's licence application under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
- Whether the Supreme Court should entertain under Article 32 a challenge to the Maharashtra notification of 19 January 2023 prohibiting aggregation and ride-pooling of non-transport vehicles, which was not challenged before the High Court.
Provisions considered
- Sections 2(1A), 93 and 96 (as amended by Act 32 of 2019), Motor Vehicles Act, 1988No person may act as an aggregator without a licence from the authority and on conditions prescribed by the State Government; the first proviso to Section 93(1) says the State 'may follow' Central guidelines, so they have persuasive value only, and the State may bear them in mind when framing rules under Section 96. (¶¶ 4, 5, 6, 9)
- Clauses 4, 5, 7 to 10, 13 and 15, Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020The guidelines furnish a framework for licensing and compliances on drivers, vehicles, apps, safety and fares; clause 15 permits pooling of non-transport vehicles unless the State prohibits it with written reasons on its transport portal, which Maharashtra did by the notification of 19.01.2023 pending its committee's study. (¶¶ 6, 7, 8, 12, 13)
Held
- The correctness of the transport authority's rejection order is overshadowed and subsumed by the State's decision to have the whole issue of using non-transport vehicles for aggregation examined by a committee before deciding; the petitioners may challenge the notification before the High Court under Article 226, which shall decide uninfluenced by its observations, in particular paragraph 59 of its judgment. (¶¶ 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- The committee is to take its final decision by 15 March 2023 and the State Government by 31 March 2023, whereafter the petitioners may pursue their legal remedies after complying with such conditions as the State prescribes. (¶ 21)
Result
Special leave petitions and writ petitions disposed of; permission to file and delay condoned; challenge to the Maharashtra notification dated 19.01.2023 not entertained under Article 32 with liberty to move the Bombay High Court under Article 226; committee to decide by 15.03.2023 and the State Government to take a final decision by 31.03.2023; pending applications including for intervention disposed of.