[Neomobile]

The issue is completely misunderstood in this post. Government has not banned carpooling. You cannot use a private vehicle for commercial purposes. So the problem comes if money is involved. Just like I can’t operate a business from my home without taking adequate permits, commercial electric meter etc. I am sure anyone can take their friends and colleagues in carpools when commercial transactions are not involved.
Imagine opening a dark store in your apartment or a cake shop in your flat where anyone can come into your society to buy them.

Also I am wondering who is responsible for passenger insurance if any accidents occur.

[gauravdgr8]

Originally Posted by Neomobile

Also I am wondering who is responsible for passenger insurance if any accidents occur.

Passenger insurance is included in the car insurance.

How is see this is that IT corridor office goers with friends in the car will be stopped randomly on charges of car pooling. Worse, Bangalore auto walas blocking cars and vandalizing. All the government does is listen to folks who survive on subsidies paid from our taxes.

[where_to_next]

What a pity this is. How exactly do they plan to enforce this though? Will they be posing as strangers on the carpool apps and catch the owners when they come to pick up?! This is similar to how the taxis drivers have bashed up rapido bikers. I guess just don’t want us to have a peaceful life.

[baarish84]

Effectively I can still do carpooling, but I cannot do carpooling with the ride share app?

I can charge money from my colleagues for giving the ride, but effectively I cannot take money from strangers ?

I wonder how are they going to implement this..

[Raghuwire]

Senseless from the government. Do we ban home offices? How can you do commercial work from residential property? These apps, carpooling is running for a reason. THE ABJECT LACK OF COMFORTABLE SAFE AND RELIABLE CONVEYANCE. I use the bus for my office commutes, I cant track the bus, most places, i cant get a seat in the bus and takes ages to reach. Metros not operational, Suburbans not in my area! If i want to reduce the burden on the roads, myself and help environment, carpooling is a viable mean. One question the govt needs to ask is, does this decision help in improving the ease of living of citizens? In this case, no. Instead of clearing footpath encroachments, making walking a viable mode of transport, getting the metro ready on time. this is something they can pass and keep the taxis happy!

[W.A.G.7]

I am not in Bangalore, so ideally I shouldn't speak on this topic. Legally or technically it may be the right thing to do (given the fact that private carpooling may be a "collective" taxi in a "private car"'s clothing), but I feel this is just a reaction to the traffic jam that had happened in Bangalore. Nobody from the transport authorities or the unions seems to have thought correctly about implementing the ban. There must be so many private WhatsApp groups and common friends collectively carpooling by contributing for fuel - how is the taxi union going to stop that? Commercials are still involved in those, except that it isn't documented anywhere through any app or any other means. I am not against the ban on using private vehicles for commercial use, but I think it should not be the result of the vested interests of some taxi unions and political leaders.

Personally, I was never a fan of carpooling - simply too much dependency on people whom you know. As a matter of fact, I am also not a fan of cabs, Shuttl, MetroLink or any other bus/cab service. I had too many bad experiences doing that, prior to Covid-19. No, thank you, I would rather take my own bike or car to the office. I am in control of when I can go to my office and come back from the office.

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

what is stopping the taxi driver

1) car pooling apps pay much less per ride. and even that is in the form of credits and not cash.

2) fuel, insurance, maintenance etc are all deductibles when it comes to paying taxes as a commercial cab driver while it is not as a passenger car driver

I am fairly certain if car pooling apps were actually a lucrative way to earn money for a cab driver there is no way they will be asking for a ban on them

[Revvatron]

So does it mean that these apps are banned in Karnataka? Let's say if am hosting a ride from Hyd-Blr, the app won't allow it?

Originally Posted by anandhsub

I am fairly certain if car pooling apps were actually a lucrative way to earn money for a cab driver there is no way they will be asking for a ban on them

I think cab drivers are using this for long journeys, like Hyd-Blr or anywhere around 250 kms. For city rides you are correct there is no incentive for them to do this.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

So does it mean that these apps are banned in Karnataka? Let's say if am hosting a ride from Hyd-Blr, the app won't allow it?

How can they ban an app regionally within a state border? Its impossible.

And how will they stop me and check if I am ferrying people using the app? I will simply say they are all my friends. Who are these idiots to tell me what I can or cannot do inside my car?

The fool who even came up with this should be made to stand on the road and flag each and every car down personally in the noon sun or pouring rain and enquire himself single handedly on the outer ring road.

I smell a massive PIL incoming from some friends who routinely fight such battles here who will show these ill informed coarse brainless dimwits their place.

I wanted to write baboon, but what a disservice to such a fine animal.

[ShreyG]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

1) car pooling apps pay much less per ride. and even that is in the form of credits and not cash.

Just to add on to the point, I have been a frequent user of one such app as a ride provider.
The remunerations provided are calculated such that profiteering is near impossible with them, no matter the number of people pooling in and the distance travelled. There are upper limits on the amount and increase in distance proportionately increases the discount %.

This is essentially another hairbrained decision owing to the pressure from the taxi / auto cab unions who have suffered apparently from the Shakti scheme and 2 wheeler taxis. It is another case that even today, getting an auto in the 1st few attempts itself is almost impossible, let alone at a fair price.

The transport department could also have been sensible and made such apps legal to only those with an official email ID to filter out the weeds in the farm for the benefit of the city. But sensibility and rationale are the least of the concerns when votebank comes into play.
__________________

[true_sedan]

The policy sounds like utter non-sense. To consolidate and appease their taxi driver vote bank they have taken a wonderful environment friendly idea and thrown it out the window. This just gives the traffic police more reasons to harass the common man. And a 10000 rupee fine. The very reason we don’t have massive penalties and fines in our country is because the police in our country are extremely corrupt.

“How will they enforce this rule?”
1) Make you unlock the phone and check for carpooling apps?
2) Use their extraordinarily corrupt 6th sense to detect carpoolers?
3) Conduct on spot illegal interrogation of the cars’ occupants?
4) Make you take DNA test to prove car occupants are family?

The possibilities are endless and all of them will either end in a 10000 rupee fine or a 5000 rupee bribe. Bangalore is fast losing its sheen among the IT populace. Between the constant harassment by yellow board vesicles, traffic police and massive increase in cost of living, the common man is getting squished left right and centre.

[davelok]

Meanwhile, people who hire drivers and send the car home after dropping them to work don't even know that the driver is giving rides to strangers for a few bucks.

Car pooling apps are a good idea in themselves. However, given our laws, chances of misuse are as high as the misuse of these laws themselves.

Charity begins at home. People should not use these apps for obtaining illegal commercial services. Unlike ride hailing services, these apps don't offer you any security.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by davelok

Meanwhile, people who hire drivers and send the car home after dropping them to work don't even know that the driver is giving rides to strangers for a few bucks.

.

That's why you have a 3ch dash cam system where the third channel is pointed inwards at the cabin.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by true_sedan

.

“How will they enforce this rule?”
1) Make you unlock the phone and check for carpooling apps?
2) Use their extraordinarily corrupt 6th sense to detect carpoolers?
3) Conduct on spot illegal interrogation of the cars’ occupants?
4) Make you take DNA test to prove car occupants are family?

Its a case of simple fear factor. If I'm the car owner carpooling in that app, I need to give out my vehicle details at some point. Easy for someone to fake as a commuter to get that details. Atleast that's what every car owner will fear and stay away from the app. Won't have to reach to the point of actually fining a car owner. Also the optics of this announcement will satisfy the taxi unions, etc.

But honestly, from my experience of using the app (as a passenger), owners and passengers start to do repeat trips and align accordingly very fast with WhatsApp contacts etc. For existing carpools, the process will probably just shift into WhatsApp groups and many of the existing pools will continue. And those can't be traced.

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

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.

I am from Bangalore, and I seriously doubt if this was the real intent of the Government. Let us not equate taxis and carpooling apps. A taxi ride in peak hours for around 10 km will cost anywhere between 300 and 500. Car pooling via quickride probably costs around 50 rupees. Also, a significant majority of the car poolers use no more than 2 rides a day compared to 15-20 rides for a taxi. We are seeing minuscule numbers at an individual level to even warrant discussion on revenue loss to the Government. For the quantum of money someone makes through carpooling, there absolutely is no incidence of GST. At the max, we can argue about commercial road tax, which I was given to believe, is no higher than the exorbitant road tax that we already pay in Karnataka.

Also, if the intent of the government is for tax collections, they have ways to do that. For example, they can tax the transactions at source - like a fixed fee per ride.

It is a no-brainer that Bangalore needs carpooling, more metro network, feeder buses, etc. The recent traffic congestion in ORR couldn't open the eyes of Netas - I am not sure what will. When the whole world is moving towards ride-sharing, this is a step back.