HYDERABAD: A City Civil Court has restrained Rapido an app-based bike taxi aggregator from telecasting and promoting an advertisement featuring Tollywood actor Allu Arjun which showed the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) in poor light.

The Xth Junior Civil Judge of the City Civil Court, Nampally on Friday restrained Rapido and its successors, directors, employees, servants, agents, representatives, from telecasting, broadcasting, streaming, reproducing, distributing, making available to the public, and or communicating to the public the original and modified versions of the ad film, which features Telugu actor Allu Arjun, on their websites or through the internet in any manner.

The Court also directed Google’s online video sharing platform YouTube to block access to the original and modified version of the commercial video.

It may be recollected that TSRTC MD VC Sajjanar had issued a legal notice to Rapido to take of the advertisement as it was showing that it was uncomfortable and dangerous to travel in TSRTC and a bus was also hired by Rapido for the commercial. Rapido modified the ad film slightly but continued to show the TSRTC bus.

TSRTC then approached the Court, where it argued that while Rapido was entitled to promote its services, it could not do so by making defamatory statements about TSRTC or public transport.

With the court restraining any form of sharing of the ad, anybody found flouting the orders would be liable to be prosecuted.

The advertisement was directed by director Trivikram Srinivas for a Mumbai-based company named Enormous Brands

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