[MotorDev]

Bengaluru Carpooling Ban | Hefty Fine of Rs 10,000 for Violators

In Bengaluru, using private vehicles for commercial purposes through carpooling apps like QuickRide, Zoom etc. has been declared illegal by the transport department. Offenders could face heavy penalties, including the suspension of their vehicle's registration certificate or a fine of Rs 10,000. This move came after complaints from taxi driver unions.

A member from Karnataka Rajya Sabha suggested that vehicle owners should register their cars as taxis for legal commercial use instead of using carpooling apps without licenses.

Despite this decision, the public in Bengaluru finds carpooling apps convenient and cost-effective, making their daily commutes easier and helping them avoid traffic congestion. There are over 1.1 crore vehicles in the city, with carpooling becoming a popular solution for daily commuters. The future policies of the Karnataka government regarding this matter remain to be seen.


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[Raghu M]

And the current govt. plans to encourage car pooling after that massive traffic jam on Wednesday. I don't get the point of allowing more and more companies to open shop in the same area. There is no dearth of space, you can ask them to start offices at least 5 kms away. Won't make the skies fall. It's the same with Hyderabad. You want to squeeze a sq. yard of land to an extent where there is no land left. Felt really bad for the commuters in Bangalore. Some kids were dropped after 9 PM, which is so bad.

[Guna]

Can the cab union take the responsibility of providing of ensuring that nobody is stranded waiting for a comfortable transportation at reasonable amount? I think whenever someone doesn't get cab, they should start tweeting the government with this union in the hashtag.

[GrammarNazi]

Taxis don't pay Road Tax.
Drivers don't pay GST on Revenue.
Taxis use subsidised fuel for their commercial operations.
They don't pay Income Tax.
They're relatively FAR LESS captively invested into the economic progress of the city compared to someone who's working in the high growth & high earning white collar sectors.

Being from the villages, their worldview/perspective is disconnected from the urban life of people who, on a daily basis, deal with the most advanced countries' businesses, help them operate to earn, and earn from these software / consultancy services.

Effectively, they have less to lose (/"skin in the game") if they cause a misdemeanor to breach the peace of other tax paying citizens, a position they leverage/exploit and often bully / abuse urban citizens.

It costs money to manage the ruckus (& sometimes vile hatred) that this disconnect between people creates.

Citizens who pay huge amounts of direct, indirect and local taxes (road tax, property tax etc), who help build foreign exchange of the country - are living deeply traumatised by traffic, pollution & local issues, and thereby being educated, well connected, sensible adults, who want to reduce pollution, they find a solution - to carpool with a basic reward system. But the Govt wants to disallow that citing some bizarre logic.

Imagine the gravity of the situation.

This is the power of Votebank politics. It's the same in any democracy world-wide. Consoling yourself to immigrating away from the city is easy, but anywhere you go, if you don't vote as a votebank - you'll be turned into a "captive taxpayer" by others with vested interests around you.

Conclusion / Lesson to learn : Let's stop running away for holidays during elections, especially state elections. Please intently stay back to vote stealthily.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Conclusion / Lesson to learn : Let's stop running away for holidays during elections, especially state elections. Please intently stay back to vote stealthily.

Bangalore is part of Karnataka, not the other way around. The last election if anything was a reminder to the political class

I don't know how much of a threat car pooling is to cabs , probably not much but politically this could be a win.

[WorkingGuru]

Originally Posted by MotorDev

Bengaluru Carpooling Ban | Hefty Fine of Rs 10,000 for Violators

... Offenders could face heavy penalties, including the suspension of their vehicle's registration certificate or a fine of Rs 10,000. This move came after complaints from taxi driver unions...

A member from Karnataka Rajya Sabha suggested that vehicle owners should register their cars as taxis for legal commercial use instead of using carpooling apps without licenses...

Taxi Driver Union !

What next, if the Kaamwali Union decided we have too many friends then they'll ban house parties ?

Worse still, imagine the penalties if the Plumber Union decided we have too many Western style WCs !?

[Axe77]

In a city crumbling at traffic woes and what not, it speaks volumes if these are the kind of measures and initiatives that are government (any government) and administration’s priorities.

A logical and safe way of saving fuel, reducing pollution, saving money and reducing the burden on our infra is being actively targeted and shut down.

[Shreyans_Jain]

As a northie looking at these genius ideas being forced on to Bangalore, I find it kind of funny, almost out of solidarity. This is coming from a Delhi guy who has to live through 10 year diesel bans, odd even and restrictions on using BS4 diesel cars in winters. I see this happening to you, to us, irrespective of which party is in power. We are destined to be screwed over by the powers at be, that we only fund.

[padmrajravi]

I find the ban sensible. Car pooling does help in reducing congestion. But when you are accepting cash for doing that you are running a commercial operation. And when you do that you have to adhere to the same rules that taxis do. Different insurance, different tax structure etc. Nobody is banning one from taking his colleagues with while commuting based on an internal arrangement. But when you use an app to do that and a public money arrangement is involved, you are just bypassing the laws set up for commerical operation. That is illegal. If this thing is made legal, what is stopping the taxi driver from registering in one of those car pooling apps and running his entire operation like this ? Why should he take a hit in margin by paying different insurance, tax, vehicle maintenence specifications etc ?

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

I find the ban sensible. Car pooling does help in reducing congestion. But when you are accepting cash for doing that you are running a commercial operation. And when you do that you have to adhere to the same rules that taxis do. Different insurance, different tax structure etc. Nobody is banning one from taking his colleagues with while commuting based on an internal arrangement. But when you use an app to do that and a public money arrangement is involved, you are just bypassing the laws set up for commerical operation. That is illegal. If this thing is made legal, what is stopping the taxi driver from registering in one of those car pooling apps and running his entire operation like this ? Why should he take a hit in margin by paying different insurance, tax, vehicle maintenence specifications etc ?

I think people are falling victim to the lure of technology here without thinking of the regulatory consequences. We had innumerable requests from these app companies to promote car pooling in our offices, but we simply couldnt allow it.
Of course, nothing stops any one from informally creating a ride group and do the same activity, even split the money on fuel used.

[ghodlur]

I find this a knee jerk reaction by the insensible govt who is incapable of handling the ever growing traffic woes of the city which is spreading the boundaries faster then a blink of eye. Add to that the pathetic road conditions which is making things even more worse. The govt themselves had advocated the use of car pooling many years back when they had come to the sense of the Hydra monster the traffic has become. How does this ban help the initiative of saving fuel, environment.

Bullied by the Taxi union if the govt takes such low thought ideas, then we are in a different time altogether. Tomorrow it will be Auto union who will demand that taxis be reduced on the road.

[GeeTee TSI]

Much as I detest the misplaced priorities of the authorities, I tend to agree with the ban on commercial car pooling. Sorry, but that is a taxi in private car clothing. But seriously, this is what they came up now?!

The ban is not on the concept of car pooling in the right spirit and no one prevents one from coordinating with colleagues and acquaintances outside these apps

[lapis_lazuli]

Why not make it like "use upto two times a day"? That way real office goers can be filtered. Maybe add preferential time slots for once in the morning and once in the evening. Other times the app doesn't work for the user.

[buzzy_boy]

Middle-class guy: Great move! Could you also prevent the auto, and taxi drivers from demanding exorbitant fares?

Government: No!!! But, good news! We've introduced dog cess to care for our abandoned canines, and Make India great again! Congratulations for saving a dog's life!!!!

[Turbohead]

The state govt would be correct in enforcing the ban on car pooling because it's illegal currently as no rules allow it.

High time we get proper rules and regulations on car pooling including clauses on how this income is treated for taxation(whether tax is calculated on revenue generated or after deducting expenses), safety of fellow passengers, insurance etc.

This is the way to go because most cars in our city just has 1 or 2 people inside most of the time. Saves a lot of crude imports and foreign currency reserves if done properly.