Shared Mobility: Govt to Allow Private Car Owners to Earn Money as Part-Time Cabbies!

Every single day, an average of 1,750 new vehicles are registered, owing to the boom in vehicle population. It now stands at 80.45 lakh. This is the situation in Bengaluru alone.

Imagine what it might be for the rest of the country.

Concerned about this national phenomenon which is not just causing congestion on roads, but also slowly poisoning our environment, the government has decided to take a solution-based stand towards shared mobility.

To promote ride sharing among car owners and reducing traffic on roads, they have proposed a set of guidelines. According to this, private car owners will be allowed to ferry passengers in their vehicles and earn money in return, but they can only make 3-4 such trips in a day.

The limitation on the number of trips is being imposed to make sure that the livelihood of full-time cab drivers is not hampered because of the part-time cabbie-cum-car owners.

However, no standard fare structure will be introduced by the government, the report confirmed. The ride fares will be decided based on market standards.

The move is said to be a part of the transport ministry’s larger plan of framing a policy for ‘vehicle pooling’ to reduce the number of private vehicles on roads and enhance mobility in the country.

As per the report by The Times of India, the policy being pushed by NITI Aayog, will ensure that the initiative does not end up being misused as taxi service.

Further, to ensure safety of passengers, all the private vehicles will need to be linked with aggregators that have been accredited by the state transport departments.

The details of these vehicles will be linked to the Vahan database, so that the owners opting for this service will not be able to duplicate rides. This system will prevent them from linking the same vehicle with more than one aggregator with an intention to breach the number of trips a day.

A clear provision is being set to limit the aggregators as well, so that they cannot offer lucrative incentives to vehicle owners to encourage them to take more trips.

All of these accredited aggregators will need to keep the KYC details of passengers for their safety. As per the policy, owners are also required to have insurance for occupants.

Also Read: Karnataka to Buy 640 Electric Vehicles to Serve as Public Transport

Introduced in 2011 by the National Informatics Centre and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, VAHAN is a computerised database of vehicle information available with Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and District Transport Offices (DTOs). Its functional modules include vehicle registration, vehicle fitness, taxation, permits and enforcement.

The move is expected to have a positive impact on our roads as well as the environment.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

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