[Im_Abhisek]

It is good that the government has finally woken up to the fact that there is a gap. It will be beneficial if they try and actually come out with a law for car-pooling that seems essential and a possible partial remedy to the traffic mess that we see in most cities today.

[hrk997]

The only plausible reason as to why they've banned this feature is due to pressure from the unions of taxi drivers. This feature severely affected them as it provided very low fares for greater running costs, effectively causing losses. This could have been rectified with better prices, but instead, the government has chosen to ban the feature altogether.

[sajaijayan]

Absolutely baffling logic. Anything that helps in reducing traffic should be explicitly encouraged. People who don't like it will not use it anyway, and if people do it is only positive.

[landcruiser123]

This rule when traffic is a crazy problem in Bangalore? Why can't legislators sit for once and modify the rules to allow pooling services like this one?

Originally Posted by avanishphatak

Only BMTC has the licence for contract carriage, i.e picking up people from multiple points...

Is that why there are no share autos in Bangalore? I use them on certain routes when I travel in Chennai- they maybe a little uncomfortable- but they get you from point A to B economically without fuss.

Or is this a law throughout India which is been broken in some parts of the country.

[Malyaj]

Originally Posted by hrk997

The only plausible reason as to why they've banned this feature is due to pressure from the unions of taxi drivers. This feature severely affected them as it provided very low fares for greater running costs, effectively causing losses. This could have been rectified with better prices, but instead, the government has chosen to ban the feature altogether.

This is indeed the case. This article in Deccan Herald talks about it.

https://www.deccanherald.com/state/t...er-743435.html

Also note... "Ikkeri (Transport Commissioner), said they were not against carpooling. The state government has written to the Centre seeking such a rule change. The rules have to apply to the aggregators and all concerned issues should be addressed before allowing their legal operation.."

My guess is that car pooling will be back once the aggregators decide to shell out more to the drivers.

[coolmind]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

The drivers must be rejoicing; I've not met one Uber/Ola driver who was happy about the ride-sharing option. They've all cringed about it: be it the lower earnings, or the fuel/time spent in picking up co-riding passengers.

Why the State Govt. had to intervene - no idea. Political angle maybe?

Actually the drivers of OLA/Uber are happy with pool sharing for the reason that it will be considered as completing two trips in one go. This shall help them in achieving their targets faster.
Coming to involvement of government, yeah I too feel that its just a political decision. I don't see logic behind the ban. Rather it was helping people travel in an economical way and is helping environment as well.