For the transport department in Bengaluru to order Ola and Uber to stop carpooling is a regressive anti-consumer move, reeks of over-regulation and high-handedness and protectionism. The Economic Times reports that app based cab aggregators have been given three days to stop carpooling and shared cabs, because these services are in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act. The report makes the following points: 1. The transport commissioner is quoted as saying that "cabs cannot pick up and drop passengers at multiple locations before closing each trip", and the services are in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act. MediaNama's Take: What the transport commissioner is doing here is going against what a committee set up by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had recommended, and sent to Principal Secretary/Transport Secretaries of each state. That report, recommends "Sharing of Seats: To provide cheaper travel solutions to the common man and to maximize utilization of vehicles in eco-friendly way, it is recommended that seat sharing should be permitted in the taxis operated by aggregators subject to the express consent of the passengers."..."With the objective of promoting new forms of public transport, it is imperative that more commercial vehicles and shared mobility assets are added in our cities."..."This low utilization - high ownership model is unsustainable in the long run and requires a policy intervention to encourage shared cars over private vehicle ownership" The archaic Motor Vehicles Act needs to be amended. 2. BMTC's Managing Director complained that carpooling was impacting BMTC revenues.…
