'No Ban On Carpooling In Bengaluru, Seek Permission First': Karnataka Transport Minister

The Karnataka government has clarified that there is no ban on carpooling in Bengaluru, refuting reports suggesting otherwise. The state's Transport Minister, Ramalinga Reddy, stated that there is no official order or notification banning carpooling and that he plans to meet with carpooling aggregators to discuss the matter.

"We have not banned (carpooling), this is a false news. First, let them take permission. They have not taken permission, where is the question of banning?", said the minister as quoted by PTI.

Reddy emphasized that none of the carpooling apps had obtained permission from the government and clarified, "How can we ban them when they are neither legal nor have applied for permission? The government believes that carpooling is an effective way to reduce congestion. For instance, friends, neighbors, or colleagues can carpool, but they are not allowed to do so through an app for commercial purposes. If they intend to use it for profit, they should apply for a license and operate with yellow-board vehicles." as quoted by Moneycontrol.

KNM Rao, the CEO of Quick Ride, confirmed that they haven't received any notice from the transport department and expressed their willingness to meet with the transport minister to address the situation.

As per a report in Moneycontrol, a senior transport department official whose name has not been disclosed, clarified that white-board vehicles, typically used for private purposes, can engage in carpooling among friends, colleagues, or others without any legal issues. Private transport associations in Bengaluru had observed a strike earlier, demanding a ban on carpooling.

While on one hand the Bengaluru traffic police has been promoting carpooling initiatives to reduce traffic in the city, on the other hand there was a strike called upon by private transport associations in Bengaluru on 11th September with one of their demands being a ban on carpooling.

Clause 15 of the Motor Vehicle Aggregators Guidelines 2020, issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways states that "In furtherance of the Central and state governments' objectives to reduce traffic congestion and automobile pollution, and to effectively utilize assets, non-transport vehicle pooling may be provided by aggregators unless prohibited by the state government. The rationale for such prohibition shall be specified in writing and made accessible on the transport portal of the state government."

The issue of carpooling has sparked discussions and debates on social media, with concerns raised about worsening traffic congestion in Bengaluru.

Reportedly, BJP leader Tejasvi Surya wrote an open letter to Karnataka's Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging the state government to allow carpooling to decongest the city's traffic.

"Ride-sharing and carpooling are seen as immediate and suitable remedies to ease the mobility crisis, especially for IT employees traveling to the same IT Park or area and returning home to the same locality after work. Ride-hailing apps like BlaBla Car, Quickride, Zoom, Rideshare, and others have been offering carpooling services where 3-4 persons share rides to the same workplace, area, or IT park.", said Surya in his letter. The BJP leader also called for an update to the Motor Vehicles Act to accommodate carpooling services, describing the current act as outdated and not permitting whiteboard vehicles for commercial commutes.

However, Tanveer Pasha, the president of Ola Uber Driver's and Owner's Association, argued that private users engaging in carpooling are affecting the livelihoods of professional drivers who already witnessed a drop in their earnings post COVID.

Hariprakash Agrawal, CEO at RideAlly, shared insights into the challenges faced by carpooling platforms and their focus on corporate carpooling, where employees can share rides among themselves within their organizations. ""At Rideally, we tried exactly this from 2014 to 2017, where carpoolers were not allowed to share costs, but it did not get that much traction. We took a stand where car owners could not earn from ride-takers as that was illegal. Later, a few apps came where they allowed people to earn, and RideAlly's user base came down suddenly. We focused on carpooling within the corporates where employees could share among themselves, and corporates paid us on a SAAS basis." he said as quoted by Moneycontrol.