Reconsider ban on carpooling apps: MP Tejasvi Surya to CM Siddaramaiah

With the Transport Department setting out to ban carpooling apps such as Quick Ride, BJP parliamentarian LS Tejasvi Surya on Sunday urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to reconsider the decision "in the interest of improving the traffic situation in Bengaluru". 

The department says carpooling apps such as Quick Ride, BlaBla Car, Zoom and Rideshare are illegal because they use personal vehicles (bearing white number plates). 

It has cited the Karnataka Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, for the decision. Under the rules, only vehicles with yellow number plates can be used for commercial purposes, such as ferrying passengers. 

The apps act as aggregators where citizens can list their personal cars and ferry three to four people to their workplace. They charge car owners a commission. 

In his letter to the chief minister, Surya said that Bengaluru, which adds 1,750 vehicles every day, is facing "an urban mobility crisis". 

"The average vehicular speed during the peak hour is 15 kmph," he wrote. On the Outer Ring Road, which houses a large chunk of IT companies and startups, the speed is just 4 kmph, he added and called for amending the rules.