Government Says No Proposal to Let Private Cars Share Rides for Fare

The government has said there is no proposal under its consideration to allow private car owners to share rides and charge fare, and no steps have been taken to evolve a regulatory mechanism over the same.

"At present there is no such proposal under consideration of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways," Minister of State, Road Transport and Highways Mansukh L Mandaviya said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on April 3.

The minister was replying to a query on whether the government proposes to "allow private cars to share rides with component of monetary incentive attached".

When asked further about steps taken up by the government to evolve a regulatory mechanism over the matter in order to reduce growing congestion and pollution, Mandaviya said it "doesn't arise" in view of no such proposal being considered.

In 2015, cab aggregator Ola had launched its CarPool feature in Delhi allowing people to pool rides using their private cars through the company's mobile app. It was, however, voluntary and free of cost for the hosts and their fellow passengers.

Rival Uber also had a similar offering - UberCommute - in Delhi and Bengaluru to allow individuals to share rides in a private car. It also has an MoU with the Punjab government for running a pilot to test peer-to-peer ride sharing in the state.

Peer-to-peer rideshare is allowed in many countries, including the US, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, the UK, Singapore and South Africa.