[MSMILES]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

To each their own. I'm not that pessimistic.

You would possibly be surprised that India has a very lively couchsurfing scene. In comparison this is just a single (few) hour long ride. of course, its another thing that many Indian hosts supposedly prefer foreign visitors far more (as per a couple of very active hosts).

Even here on team-bhp you've had many BHPians taking trips together, simply on the basis of a basic camaraderie and a view on other's posts. If you'd check up on the broader internet you'd probably come across many stories of travelers hitching a ride from others - purely on the basis of their interactions on the forum, including across genders.

This idea has been working for decades in other societies (mitfahrzentrale) - with the right application of technology and processes, I'd say it has more than a fair shot in India!

I agree Phamilyman. But that would be in a very secure enviornment. In India, I feel it is one man's word against the other when there is a conflict of interest. The person with more influence, more time on hand can win the argument. For a law abiding citizen, I feel it is more of a hazzle than convenience. I could be wrong.

[VivOverland]

Hi all,

Having been a regular user of BlaBla Car on the Mumbai to Pune circuit, and happy to share my experience.
Was wondering if you guys use such services as well? Especially in other cities.

As a driver and also a rider, I have found this resolves the issues of not having either riders or the speed and comfort of your own car, for long journeys. Point to point service, cost effective and much quicker than the Volvo buses (since usually 80% of your total journey gets covered). Certainly more eco-friendly.

Similarly, there are many commuter ride sharing apps available, but none seem to have critical mass, at least in Mumbai.

Thoughts?

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by VivOverland

Hi all,

Having been a regular user of BlaBla Car on the Mumbai to Pune circuit, and happy to share my experience.
Was wondering if you guys use such services as well? Especially in other cities.

As a driver and also a rider, I have found this resolves the issues of not having either riders or the speed and comfort of your own car, for long journeys. Point to point service, cost effective and much quicker than the Volvo buses (since usually 80% of your total journey gets covered). Certainly more eco-friendly.

Similarly, there are many commuter ride sharing apps available, but none seem to have critical mass, at least in Mumbai.

Thoughts?

Have been using bla frequently in Bangalore-Kerala route both as a co-passenger as well as offering rides. It is very convenient especially during long weekend and holiday seasons when bus fares are hiked up and left with no seats. I have not had any issues so far with this medium of transport.

[hserus]

Has there been any previous history of a successful insurance claim while carrying a passenger in bla bla car? I suppose that will be the acid test.

If one claim gets denied based on the commercial use / taxi clause this will sink.

[SourabhSuresh]

Hey all,

Traveled from Bengaluru to Mysore recently using the BlaBla car platform.The ride was an year old Polo GT and the driver was new to BlaBla.He travels the same route every weekend with his family and I was his third BlaBla passenger.
It was very useful as the buses and trains were jam packed due to the long weekend and he was a resident of the same locality too.So didnt have to travel far to board it as ell.we completed the trip in 3 hours with two stops.It was economical as well,the same amount I would pay for a volvo.
Very happy with it.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by hserus

Has there been any previous history of a successful insurance claim while carrying a passenger in bla bla car? I suppose that will be the acid test.

If one claim gets denied based on the commercial use / taxi clause this will sink.

Not sure how much clarity exists on this regard. This cannot be categorised as commercial/taxi usage, right? Isn't it just pooling of friends along, or atleast can't we put it that way in case of an incident. How would the insurance claim prove it wrong.

I only wish people does not consider this as a medium to make profit. I always just divide the fuel prices, and not even include the maintanence charges in the price.

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

I only wish people does not consider this as a medium to make profit. I always just divide the fuel prices, and not even include the maintanence charges in the price.

That's the way it should be, but from what I have seen on the Delhi-Chandigarh route is that the fares are generally kept the same as a Volvo ticket. I've only travelled as a passenger once but my friend does up-down every week and now he doesn't even use Bla-Bla any longer since he has developed a camaraderie with the guy he goes along with. I did not like the ride personally as it was a Verna and would have definitely preferred a Volvo over that but he did save us 1.5hrs on the trip.

[rauldsouza]

I recently recd. a very suspicious message from a Bla Bla Car user for a ride i had posted about recently.

Red Flags (When looked holistically and not individually)

• A very Generic message non contextual to the trip

• Recently created profile, with no prev. info

• the about profile of user is soliciting

• Nagpur is not a place which has attracted foreign tourists in the past

There's a definite sense of falseness here, what do you guys think is the agenda here ?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by rauldsouza

There's a definite sense of falseness here, what do you guys think is the agenda here ?

My sense is that this is the beginning of a Nigerian scam. The wording and initial pitch are very similar.

My day job since 2000 or so has been filtering spam and phishing emails for large cloud email services, so let’s say I’ve seen quite a few such messages. Not on blanla car beforehand but they are all over craigslist, eBay etc.

[navdeep.rana]

I used Bla Bla only once on 4th of August when I had to do a return trip from Jalandhar to Mohali. The experience was pretty good. I found only one passenger who was a lawyer when I was going to Mohali. Thankfully he was also a car enthusiast and was going there to seal a deal for an old Mercedez Benz E class. On return, I found 2 co-passengers and my overall expense was cut down by a big margin. So my first experience was very good.

I have to travel to Mohali once every month and I decided that I will be offering car ride every time now. But recently I came across a news saying that Police has started impounding cars of such private car owners who use apps like Bla Bla car to offer rides and earn money. They also put on hefty penalty of Rs 2,000 on such car owners. Although the news is from Telangana and Tamil Nadu I think, should I be worried about using Bla Bla in Punjab also? Is there a chance of car getting impounded in Punjab also now?

[MadTitan47]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Not sure how much clarity exists on this regard. This cannot be categorised as commercial/taxi usage, right? Isn't it just pooling of friends along, or atleast can't we put it that way in case of an incident. How would the insurance claim prove it wrong.

I only wish people does not consider this as a medium to make profit. I always just divide the fuel prices, and not even include the maintanence charges in the price.

Originally Posted by hserus

Has there been any previous history of a successful insurance claim while carrying a passenger in bla bla car? I suppose that will be the acid test.

If one claim gets denied based on the commercial use / taxi clause this will sink.

There is no clarity about carpooling/ ride sharing apps. However, BlaBlaCar has an upper amount which you can charge for a ride. It does not let the total money you can get from your co-travelers go beyond 75% of the estimated ride cost (It gives a message saying charging above this limit is not legal). As the model is designed to NOT make the driver any profit, it can not be called as commercial.

I feel if any case goes to the court on legality of carpooling, it will be a favorable judgement. However arguing this with a cop takes another set of skills

Also some cabbies have started using this app for soliciting passengers and charging them 2-3 times more than the shown price, this may have triggered the reaction from cops.

Bumping up the old thread because recently I found myself contemplating sharing a ride on blablacar. I would love to hear bhpians recent experiences on this.

[dpat17]

Originally Posted by MadTitan47

Also some cabbies have started using this app for soliciting passengers and charging them 2-3 times more than the shown price, this may have triggered the reaction from cops.

Bumping up the old thread because recently I found myself contemplating sharing a ride on blablacar. I would love to hear bhpians recent experiences on this.

My overall experience with BlaBla has been positive.
Cabbies have indeed started using blabla platform for soliciting passengers. However you can easily filter them out by spotting obvious signs. Try to read the reviews for person who has posted the ride. Cabbies tend to have low rating (less than 4 stars). They usually drive MS Dzire, Hyundai Xcent. Always prefer to ride with a person whose Govt ID is verified.

[kiredd1005]

I had come across this app few years ago but never really got around to using it. I had to travel from Bangalore to Chennai on work last month. It was a fixed route and a fixed travel date as well. So I decided to host 3 people in my car. I was initially a little wary but turns out the experience was a positive one. I met a couple of well behaved gentlemen on to and fro trips. They paid on time and one of them didn't let me pay for breakfast, even upon insisting I think this works well if you get a chance to interact with the participants well in advance so you can gauge their behaviour at least with a certain degree of certainty that they are well behaved people.

One of them gave tips on how to filter out difficult people. One big red flag is if a husband and wife are travelling, they usually end up not engaging the host in banter, which might end up annoying the host because they only discuss domestic topics and if the host is single then he's done for

My thought process was to minimise my carbon footprint, however small it was, I felt it was a waste of fuel to travel alone.

I might use this facility in future too if my travel plan is the same. I'm not sure how BBC benefits or makes money since the payment is done between the individuals and not on the app itself! I obviously wouldn't use this if I had to travel with my spouse or family.

The cost of travel also worked out quite well since I had occupants on both trips. I also felt less guilty of burning fuel!

[sanoronha63]

THE RULE OF LAW DOES NOT PERMIT RIDE SHARING FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
1. Insurance will not cover strangers in the car in case of an accident .
2. charging a person does come under commercial activity. this is ambigious but can u argue with a cop in the middle of nowhere.

....i regularly offer rides on the platform and insist on identifiction. after considerable chatting i determine whether i want to offer the ride. it means often going empty. but better safe than sorry.

HOPE THIS HELPS

Originally Posted by Voyager-1

Contrary to the posts above, their website states that they fix a ceiling and the drivers cannot charge beyond that to ensure that the drivers do not make any profit. So, the whole purpose is to reduce the impact on the environment and to reduce the travel cost for the driver as well as the passengers, but it is in no way intended to be a profit making business for the drivers, hence there is no question of revenue/profit/tax etc...

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Safety and security being one aspect, I am more interested to know how the company and government react to this. As this business is legitimate, it should need an approval from the ministry. Would ministry approve this business model, since it is against the motor vehicle law of this country? Even if ministry approves this, Would the police/RTO Checks permit me to pass the checking If i am ferrying unknown people in my private car for a fee using blablacar?

As a user or rider i had put questions through my above posted posts.

Now, As a ride provider / private car owner, I am looking at the hassles that i would face by doing social/environmental service. Even assuming, I get credible people to travel with me, i have the below questions

There is a certain business/entertainment which is legal in Amsterdam, but the same business/entertainment is illegal in India. However, that business is still thriving in india, which the govt allows to run illegaly and people use it at thier own risk with the fear of being jailed by police during a raid.

On similar lines, would blablacar launch india operations, without complying to the motor vehicle law and write a disclaimer that "use at your own risk" "we are not liable for passenger's misuse to the car" ?

• Is Blablacar model, legal as per MV Act in india? (ferrying unknown passengers in a private car for a fee)
• Would this be communciated to each and every cop/RTO/checkpost?
• How to handle cases like contraband in luggage?

Oh Yes !!! I have seen Tamil Nadu police check SETC Bangalore Chennai bus, near Ambur. On a lighter note, the constable asked me to open my bag and was shocked to see nothing but my shorts, T-shirt and underwear inside my bag

Most railway stations and Bus-stations have started to check baggage and also there are "prowler dogs" (dogs which apprear to be stray/street dogs but in reality are trained police dogs, which can sniff out contraband at random. They dont need a policeman to accompany them). Given this scenario, blablacar seems to be a good option to ferry the goods and also in case he is caught, he can always pass on the blame to the driver. Since most contraband carriers have connections with influential people, it is easy for them to escape / bail. That too, Blablacar offers "door to door" service at a cheaper price compared to public transport.

[sanoronha63]

Mod note: Post merged. Back to back post, please use Multi Quote [Quote +] instead of this. Thanks.

SERVICE TAX only kicks in when you cross 3 lacs turnover per annum. i may have the figure wrong but the concept is corect. the problem is your car insurance does not cover non family members in case of an accident. my insurance agent said i can get that when renewing my insurance not mid term.
and im told the cops are randomly pulling over people and checking. though it is innovas scorpios taveras and other vehicles gererally used by the tourist taxxi trade.
i hope this helps.

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Even in known people like colleagues and friends, As GTO mentioned, honouring time commitements still is a long way to go.
=====
So it is a trade-off between privacy, time-management and comfort with 50% sharing in fuel costs.

MY 2 PENCE WORTH:
1. chat and get familiar with the driver or passenger.
2. once the ride is confirmed call and speak on phone, familiarize yourself with the person. if you have even a small doubt, walk away.
3. be alert to the persons attitude and the way he responds. a casual attitude , he will cancel at the drop of a hat, not informing you.
4. set your terms clearly. i have a policy, MY CAR MY FARE AND TERMS. this will work well for you.
5. any haggling, or compromise, walk away.
HERE IS WISHING YOU MANY HAPPY MILES OF RIDE SHARING.

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

There was a case mentioned in the papers some years back that children and senior citizens who asked for lifts, poke a needle pre dipped with some chemical into the rider's body. The rider becomes unconcious and they escape by robbing everything from the rider and in some case, even the two-wheeler is robbed and stripped for parts.

This is my only fear. If my co-rider turns out to be an anti-social, I dont have a choice.

Secondly - here is a scenario, which i could not guess how to avoid/handle.

Let us say i find a ride from Chennai to Trichy. In case a gang wants to rob, they can give an advert in blablacar and they can setup thier own men at strategic locations (say chengalpet) and in the pretext of picking another passenger, They could drive me to a secluded spot and rob me/kill me. Some Bangalore thieves are noted to swipe maximum limits on the debit card before and after midnight and also withdraw maximum cash on credit cards. The cabbie initially could be geniune and say that I am from trichy and am dropping a customer at the Chennai international airport and coming back to Trichy empty, so i placed an ad in blablacar. AC Innova and 4 hrs to trichy sir. Better compared to bus sir

So - for the benefit of everyone - please comment on how to handle this.