Tejasvi Surya, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has penned an open letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging the state government to rethink its decision to ban carpooling services in Bengaluru. The Karnataka government recently imposed a ban on carpooling and warned of fines up to ₹10,000 for those found operating such services. In his letter, Surya emphasized that Bengaluru’s existing public transport infrastructure is insufficient for its population and suggested that carpooling could help alleviate traffic congestion by reducing the number of vehicles on the road.
Surya pointed out that the number of buses operated by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has remained stagnant at around 4,500 for several years, with a recent increase to approximately 6,763 buses. However, this fleet size still falls short of meeting the city’s demands, given Bengaluru’s population of approximately 1.10 crore. He argued that ride-sharing and carpooling services, particularly for IT employees traveling to the same area or IT park, offer immediate and viable solutions to address the city’s mobility crisis. Several ride-hailing apps, including BlaBla Car, Quickride, Zoom, and Rideshare, have been offering carpooling services where multiple individuals can share rides to the same workplace or locality.
Surya also highlighted the need to update the Motor Vehicles Act to align with current circumstances, describing the existing act as “outdated” and unsuitable for allowing private vehicles to operate for commercial commute purposes. He stressed the importance of amending the law to accommodate evolving transportation needs.
However, the Karnataka Transport Department has deemed the use of whiteboard vehicles for commercial commuting purposes as “illegal” and indicated that fines ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 could be imposed on violators.
This development has sparked a debate on the role of carpooling in addressing traffic congestion and whether legislative changes are needed to support such initiatives in Bengaluru.
Sources By Agencies
