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-   -   Bengaluru Carpooling Ban | Hefty fine of Rs 10,000 for violators (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/271301-bengaluru-carpooling-ban-hefty-fine-rs-10-000-violators-4.html)

Ah !

Karnataka Governments and their infatuation for Taxi unions, Trade unions, Auto Unions and total disregard for the middle class/upper middle class commuter on the road paying them majority of taxes. The same old story for over two decades since the IT boom in India's silicon city. High road tax, strict penalization for out of state vehicles and what not.

And talk about developed nations in the western world, an Uber does not even need to have a commercial license.

Go figure.

Wait... I thought this was already banned and only the fine increase and enforcement is the new news. While I understand the need to carpool to reduce traffic woes, this is just plain cheating the system. Either we move to a system where driving a taxi does not require a commercial vehicle/license, or we do. How is an uber pool different from this? There cannot be discrimination in the law of the land that just because carpooling is being done by an educated rich individual, they can do it without necessary registrations, but a poor ola/uber driver has to follow the taxi registrations for running an uber-pool. Thus, I agree for those suggesting improvements/changes to the laws, but till the laws are such, the fine is justified. I also appreciate the taxi union taking this up to protect livelihood of its members, thus doing exactly what they are supposed to do. Honestly, i'm surprised by the number of comments here chiding the govt. for a perfectly reasonable fine (for doing commercial activities without licenses) and a perfectly reasonable ban (for doing commercial activities without licenses) to be imposed instead of talking about improvements in laws/bringing in new laws for carpooling.

Now that it is illegal, will the govt return the GST that they collected on the amount a ride-giver earns on offering rides?

I also don't belong to Bangalore.

But several WhatsApp groups will definitely be there to facilitate car pooling, that's for sure.

Government has simply succumbed to pressure and has not even considered the plight of office goers and the traffic jams in the city.

Car pooling indeed a simple yet, effective utilisation of available resources. If people are able to pool together overcoming their inconveniences, government should facilitate the idea and see to it that there's no commercial angle to it.

My belief is that banglore became the IT industry hub due to its pleasant climate and modern infrastructure of those days.

But now it's a living hell as far as traffic congestion is concerned.

In a few years time, I expect work from home will become a norm than a exception. Real estate lobby won't have the same leverage it has in the city and far sighted amongst them will diversify to rural areas in other parts of the state.

As someone who spent three hours to reach home in last traffic mess, last one hour on foot, I am highly tempted to speak-up on these stupid moves.

But again, I don't want to get infraction by using foul language on this forum!
Enough said!

The ban would I guess affect those who use the carpooling app to book and share rides. Practically, it is next to impossible to enforce the ban. We used to car pool to office but it was not of commercial kind. Each one of use would take out their car in round robin fashion. There was no money involved. Monday X would take the car, Tuesday Y and so on. This ensured we had nice company to office and that each of us reduced the fuel expense.

I guess this type of car pool will and should continue. However, if there are people who are running this as a commercial enterprise then it would be deemed illegal. If these people are unable to find riders to reduce their commute cost, will they go solo or will they also opt for uber/ola or office buses?

The long term solution for the traffic woes has to lie in futuristic infra planning. Elevated roads, ring roads, bypassess are needed so that people who commute from one end to another do not have to cross through the city. Metro has to be another medium to reduce load on roads.

If possible, bengaluru should be de-congested. Either create a new city by itself or develop a satellite town nearby and ensure that it is self contained with limited interaction with the capital - which means all the services and departments are there always available.

As long as there's money transaction involved, the Government is well within its rights to enforce a ban on private vehicles being run as taxis in the guise of carpooling.

This is the actual meaning of carpooling, where colleagues take their cars out in rotation and pick up those nearby and head to a common destination (office) or drop kids off at school.

The other, where you seek someone going in your direction to split bills, is essentially a "share-auto". While it's a real godsend in times of emergency, it is a commercial transaction wherein your personal car is not permitted for such use.

Great points by lots of fellow bhp-ians. My take away from these is that most of us by virtue of our positioning in the society (middle class), are vulnerable targets. Legally, taking passengers for financial gain is not allowed. It may be unfair. It is also grossly unfair that autos overcharge or refuse rides. However there is no use ranting about it. We need to use our creativity (which is what made us really successful and upwardly mobile in the society in the first place) to help ourselves. Invest that bit of extra effort in finding carpool buddies. Form private whatsapp groups with them to coordinate. It would work for most of us. Also let our near and dear friends know that if ever they find themselves stranded because ola / uber is not available for that midnight flight, you are always there to help. Lets us help each other and move forward. Finally, please use public transport whenever it is viable. That is the most promising solution.

In the instances you mentioned, the consideration is a barter. Thereby if one friend doesn't have a car ? She/He is not allowed to carpool ? Why is it that just the form of consideration makes things different ?

Socialising online exponentially grew since atleast 15years, finding friends with common interests online is nothing new. Exploring the social landscape by finding someone who has the same office/college destination too is very normal.

If the Govt has a problem with commercialisation, then the consideration can easily be regulated to something that it just serves as a token of thanks/goodwill gesture. Even carpool trips per day can be regulated - Govt can impose rules that forces aggregators to limit the number of trips per car. Govt can limit carpooling only to areas that, during peak hours, see regular gridlock/stagnation of traffic.

The Govt haven't bothered to even consider all that because they have come to do this with unclean hands & it shows.

The government has never worked for the people. They are only interested in supporting cartelisation and monopolies which they themselves control through their network of cronies.

Its so obvious that every single government employee should hang their heads in shame.

Nothing at all to do with unclean hands. Have you considered what additional insurance a commercial passenger vehicle such as a bus or taxi has? And also considered that your insurance for a private car is invalid if it is operated for hire?

I disagree with the law in its spirit, essense and purity of thought. Not on these nitty gritties. If the law undergoes a change for the benefit of the subjects for whom it was created in the first place, it will have a waterfall effect on all these rules and regulations that have been created thereafter. You are missing the moon and instead looking at the finger.

The law is always made for man - by man. Not the other way around. The only law that is made otherwise is the universal laws that governs the universe. And absolutely nobody escapes those.

Consider, if you will, these two scenarios.

1. A licensed cab with a yellow board and a properly licensed driver is hired out to four people

2. Those four people use a car pooling app and get into the private car of one of the four people.

The cab, or the private car, has a fatal accident in which one of the passengers dies and the others have severe injuries. The cab driver is also badly injured and cannot continue his career as a result. Someone in the other car that hit the cab / private car also dies.

An insurance claim is filed, first by the owner of the licensed cab, and then by the owner of the private car, for repairs to the vehicle, and compensation for the injured or dead people in the accident.

Now, which of the two claims will the insurance company allow?

I have been offering rides thorough quick ride and let me clarify that profiteering is nearly impossible with Quickride.

1. The amount in question here is very low. If I have one rider joining me from my start point to end point in every ride, it works out approximately to less than 50% of my fuel cost for those rides (You can have more riders joining and for some rides the contribution can be more, but you will also almost never have people covering your entire stretch of distance). Over last 4-5 months, quick ride covers about 25-30% of my fuel costs for city rides.

2. You cannot offer more than 2 rides a day. Try creating a third ride and Quickride app will not allow the same.

Its not same as a taxi service. You do not go to pick-up/drop people at their door steps or wat for them. You take your set route and people (if anyone available) from your route join you if its comfortable for both parties. In turn it allows you to offset part of your fuel bill and make new friends.

Anyway, I will respect the authorities. No more Quickrides from me till the they change their view and I am not losing much as a ride giver (lncrease in traffic - if any, however small it may be - due to people stop giving such rides is more concerning to me than the financial incentive).

There's the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. A friend who doesn't have a car is by no means disallowed to carpool. They can contribute in various other ways like pay for fuel, bring snacks, treat the rest. Essentially, money is not being transferred.

Going out on a tour together is also the same thing. It is with someone you know. Not a rideshare, where you have no relation with the others in the car.

This is too small an issue for the Government right now. Addressing other issues may take precedence. So, they might impose a ban now and then earmark a set of guidelines over time. The city has overgrown its potential and is suffering.

Again, too early to presume impropriety. A bunch of petitions have been presented to the Government and they have acted in accordance to the requests.