BENGALURU: It’s been a year since the state transport department geared up to impose a ban on carpooling in the city. After facing criticism, it said it is not banning carpooling, but will come up with detailed guidelines on the practice. However, the guidelines are yet to be issued.
Transport department sources said they are awaiting guidelines from the Union government on aggregators’ guidelines.
Last year, the department geared up to impose a ban on carpooling. This move came after the department was pressured by the auto, cab operator unions, who opposed carpooling, citing that it is eating away their rightful revenue and argued that they were operating by paying taxes, insurance and other expenses, while carpooling was done without any of these.
While there were protests against carpooling, there were some who stood in favour of this practice, including Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya. They countered the cab unions, stating that carpooling is an excellent solution to beat the increasing traffic in Bengaluru and such ideas should be encouraged by making necessary amendments to the existing law.
“We were planning to come up with carpooling guidelines. However, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is coming up with aggregator guidelines. Once it is out, we will frame one for our state,” said an official from the state transport department.
Those who are using car pooling using different apps said they are able to save money by splitting the fuel expenses. However, the transport department officials have continued with the operations of booking those who still practice carpooling using various apps and websites.