India, June 26 -- Ride hailing platforms and individual bike taxi owners challenging the state government's blanket ban on bike taxis have reportedly argued in the Karnataka High Court that the service plays an important role in urban mobility and must be allowed to run under existing legal provisions.

Appearing before a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice C M Joshi, advocates for aggregators Ola, Uber and Rapido, as well as the Bike Taxi Welfare Association, challenged an earlier ruling that effectively outlawed bike taxi operations in the state, according to a PTI report.

"They are a necessity, not a luxury," the petitioners said.

On behalf of Bike Taxi Welfare Association, advocate Shashank Garg...