India, May 20 -- After making a U-turn on its move to get Apple and Google to pull ride-hailing applications from their app stores, the Maharashtra government has decided to make policy changes to tighten oversight on bike taxi operations.

The state plans to make it mandatory for operators to develop Maharashtra-specific applications for bike taxi services, and to implement geo-fencing of apps to ensure greater control on their operations. A standoff has arisen as aggregator apps such as Uber, Ola and Rapido have been running bike taxis while violating various regulations.

The state has announced new steps only 24 hours after it was forced to make an embarrassing climbdown in its attempt to rein in illegal bike taxi operations. On Frida...