After Bangkok, Uber suspends motorbike taxis in Bangalore

Photo credit: Rajarshi MITRA.

Travis Kalanick may well have made negotiations into an art form, but it looks like Uber is fast learning that the authorities aren’t easily charmed.

After landing into trouble in Bangkok, where authorities ordered GrabBike and UberMoto to stop operating due to violations of public transport regulations, Uber is suspending its two-wheelers in Bangalore as well.

See: Thailand orders Uber and Grab to stop motorbike services

On Wednesday, the company sent its motorbike taxi pilots a message saying it was suspending UberMoto operations in Bangalore. “In spite of our best efforts, we have not been able to get any clarity on rules from government and we regret to inform that we will be suspending Moto effective immediately.”

Tech in Asia has seen a copy of the text message.

Drivers are going to be paid around US$9 for the three days leading to May 20, the startup further said. On Thursday, the Uber app was still firing up to show the Moto option.

Both Uber and its local rival Ola launched bike taxis in Bangalore in March. Then, both ran into troubles after local authorities called them illegal because neither Uber nor Ola had permits to run bike taxis.

While Ola gave in quietly, Uber put a spin on its operations, and expanded bike taxi operations to another city.

See: Uber just took its motorbikes to a second city, while Ola is still out cold

Uber said it was not charging a commission from riders for using UberMoto, essentially making it a pooling service, not a taxi.

“UberMoto essentially encourages bike pooling and will help in decongesting city roads,” Uber said in its blog post.

Well, all of that came to a halt when Bangalore did not budge or come up with a clear set of rules on how to regulate bike taxis.

An Uber spokesperson said the startup had voluntarily decided to pull the services, and share its findings with the government.