Hyderabad: A Hyderabad court has restrained app-based bike taxi aggregator Rapido from telecasting a commercial featuring Tollywood actor Allu Arjun, defaming the state-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corporation.

Rapido has been widely airing ads in which Allu Arjun was seen suggesting that it is “uncomfortable and dangerous” to travel in TSRTC buses by showing a TSRTC bus which was hired by Rapido for the commercial.

Senior counsel K. Vivek Reddy, who appeared for the TSRTC, argued that while Rapido was surely entitled to promote its services, it cannot do so by making defamatory statements about the TSRTC and public transport.

TSRTC Vice Chairman and Managing Director V. C. Sajjanar appealed to the general public to strengthen the TSRTC which is a state-run. Decades – Old Corporation serving the transportation needs of lakhs of people each day.