A day after BJP leader and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya requested the removal of a ‘ban’ on carpooling, Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said Monday the government has not issued any fresh order but stakeholders will need to take permission to operate such services.
On Sunday, Tejasvi Surya had written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to revisit the rules of Karnataka Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. His letter came after a section of media reported that the Karnataka government had banned carpooling in the state.
Speaking to The Indian ExpressRamalinga Reddy said the government has not issued any fresh ban orders.
“According to the Motor Vehicles Act, it is illegal. Among the 32 demands of several transport unions, banning carpooling was also one. The argument is that whiteboard vehicles which are for private use are being used for commercial purposes. If they are using private vehicles for commercial purposes, then they will need to get permission,” said Reddy.
“We will hold a meeting with stakeholders on Tuesday and chalk out a plan,” he added.
The minister said applications like Quick Ride have not taken any permission from the transport department. “So, we will have to come out with a plan which should serve the private vehicle drivers as well as Ola, Uber and Auto-rickshaw drivers”, he added.
According to the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Act, 1989, using private vehicles for commercial commuting is “illegal’ and those operating carpooling services can be fined Rs 5,000 to 10,000. However, no new orders have been issued by the government in this regard.
In his letter to Siddaramaiah, Tejasvi Surya had said, “With regards to the public transport of the city, the number of buses operated by the BMTC remained stagnant at 4,500 for the last few years and has increased to about 6,763 now. The fleet size is insufficient to meet the demands of Bengaluru, which has a population size of about 1.10 crore. It is estimated that around 6,000 more buses of various sizes are required for the city.”
“This being the situation, ride-sharing and carpooling are immediate and suitable remedies to ease the mobility crisis to a certain extent. It is suitable, especially for IT employees travelling to the same IT Park or area and heading back home to the same locality after finishing work. Ride-hailing apps like BlaBla Car, Quickride, Zoom, Rideshare and others have been running these carpooling services, where 3-4 persons carpool together to the same workplace, area or IT park,” he added.
Surya also stressed that the Motor Vehicles Act must be changed as per time and called the current MV Act “outdated” which doesn’t allow the whiteboard vehicles to operate for commercial commute purposes.
“While it is the Government of Karnataka’s contention that private vehicles cannot be used for commercial purposes, it must also be remembered that the law needs to be amended as per the changing times. As far as carriage of persons in private or contract vehicles is concerned, the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, are outdated and are insufficient to meet the needs of the present day,” he said.
Most Read
In 2019, following pressure from auto-rickshaw drivers’ unions, the government had banned Ola and Uber carpooling. The state transport department had also written to the Centre seeking a change in the rules.
Former Bengaluru city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao also posted about the issue on X Monday.
“Who are these unwise mandarins advising the Government to ban carpooling and making it illegal. Universally, Carpooling is acknowledged as promoting fuel saving, friendliness, prevention of pollution etc. The Transport Department has enough offences to take action. People are universally smarter than the Government.. May wisdom prevail,” wrote Bhaskar.
