Mumbai: Following the death of a woman passenger in a collision involving a speeding mixer truck and an illegally operated Uber-linked Activa scooter on the Eastern Express Highway, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) has taken serious note of the incident and initiated criminal action directly against the directors of Uber, Ola and Rapido.
Five FIRs have been registered across four police stations, Navghar, Nehru Nagar, Pant Nagar and Amboli. An official of the state transport department said, “We will ensure strict action against all those operating bike taxis in violation of RTO norms, including suspension of licences. No violations will be tolerated.”
According to the FIR filed on December 1 by the Navghar police, the accident occurred at 11am on November 29 beneath the Airoli Flyover on the Eastern Express Highway, Mulund (East). The accused driver, Jawahir Yadav, 40, was allegedly driving a mixer truck at high speed and in a rash and negligent manner when he rammed into an Activa scooter that had been registered on the Uber platform without any transport permit.
The impact left the scooter rider, Ganesh Madhav, seriously injured, while the pillion rider, Shubhangi Magre, 49, died. The Navghar police initially booked the truck driver for causing death by negligence. Subsequently, based on a complaint filed by Motor Vehicle Inspector Ravindra Gawde of the Mumbai East RTO (Wadala), the Navghar police registered a case against the directors of Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd.
Investigations revealed that rider Madhav had registered an Activa scooter belonging to his maternal uncle with Uber without mandatory permission from the transport department. He then reportedly ferried passengers using another scooter (MH 03 EM 4233), also without authorisation. The police have invoked relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Motor Vehicles Act, and the Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules, 2025, against Uber India directors.
The FIR states that Uber violated the conditions of its temporary permit for app-based transport services by allowing unauthorised private scooters to be registered on its platform. Following the Navghar case, RTO officials began booking bike taxi rides through various apps to initiate further action. On December 3, the Nehru Nagar police registered a case against the directors of Roppen Transportation Pvt Ltd (Rapido), stating that the company was illegally operating petrol-engine bike taxis in Mumbai without any licence from the Maharashtra government or Regional Transport Authority.
The Nehru Nagar police filed a second FIR against directors of both Rapido and Uber on December 4. On the same day, the Pant Nagar police also registered a case against Rapido’s directors for similar violations. On December 5, after booking four rides through the Rapido app and one through the Ola app, RTO officials filed another case at the Amboli police station, alleging that both companies were facilitating illegal passenger transport for profit. The police officials said investigations in all cases are underway.
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