Bengaluru, Apr 29 (PTI): The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday allowed Ola, Uber, and Rapido to continue their bike taxi services until June 15.

A single-judge bench of Justice B M Shyamaprasad heard the interim petition led by Uber India Systems Private Limited, Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited, and ANI Technologies Private Ltd, seeking permission to continue operating bike taxi services.

The court granted the petition.

Earlier, the High Court had given a six-week deadline to Ola, Uber, and Rapido to cease their bike taxi operations. It also directed the state government to ensure proper regulation of bike taxi services within six weeks.

The court observed that the government should issue appropriate guidelines for bike taxi operations under Section 3 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

On April 2, the HC had ordered that bike taxi services should not be allowed until further notice.

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy had recently instructed the department to comply with the court’s order.

Meanwhile, Rapido has planned to launch a food delivery pilot project to keep its services running. The pilot is likely to begin next week.

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.

Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.

“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.

Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”

Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.

In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”

"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added. 

According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.