India, Oct. 19 -- Pune's latest confrontation over Rapido's bike-taxi service has once again left commuters caught between an operator facing action for allegedly running without authorisation and an administration under pressure from autorickshaw unions to stop the service.

The Regional Transport Office (RTO) has not granted the necessary permissions, and an FIR has now been registered against the company for allegedly running bike taxi services in the city using petrol-powered non-transport two-wheelers without mandatory permissions. But beyond the legal dispute lies a more basic question - why should commuters have to bear the consequences of a transport system that offers them limited choices?

Other cities have grappled with the sam...