In a sharp response to Karnataka Government’s rather regressive ban on car pooling services, Uber has said that the company won’t withdraw its UberPool service. Uber and Ola both received a notice from Karnataka Government’s transport department that their pooling service don’t fall under the law and should be withdrawn with three days.
Uber, apart from saying a clear negative to the ban, has also floated a public petition, in a bid to get support form its commuters for the service. And looking at how convenient and popular Uber’s UberPool service is and the tech-savvy userbase the ride-hailing service predominantly has, the petition won’t take too long to garner massive support.
Christian Freese, Uber’s General Manager for Bengaluru said,
As we believe that UberPool is within the law, right now there is no push to stop the product.We have always said that ride share is something that is very much welcome for a city like Bengaluru.
The issue came up a couple of days ago, when Karnataka’s Transport Ministry held an hour-long meeting with representatives of aggregator business and drivers to discuss the issue of car pooling with shared cab services.
Post the same, State Transport Commissioner MK Aiyappa announced the carpooling services to be in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act. The cabs aren’t allowed to pick up and drop travelers at multiple locations before stopping the trip. Hence, they are being banned and cannot be allowed to operate in the state.
For both Uber and Ola, Bengaluru is one of the most prominent operational areas and a ban of any sort would affect their businesses adversely. The said city lies just in the third place after Delhi and Mumbai when it comes to number of rides being taken. Uber had already voiced its views and defended its carpooling service by calling it the ‘future of urban mobility.’ The statement further added,
Over 25% of our total trips in Bengaluru are shared. In one year, UberPOOL users in the city have saved around…4,40623 litres of fuel and over 10,37,000 kg of carbon emissions.
Here is what Uber’s public petition says,
This is a story of Bangalore and the people who move it forward. It’s a story about how, through uberPOOL we have:
Prevented more than 9,364,772kilometres of unnecessary driving
Saved 4,40,623litres of fuel by allowing us to match riders using similar routes
Cut over 1,037,000kg of CO2 emissions by sharing a ride
And, most importantly, we’re getting more people into fewer cars through innovations such as uberPOOL, and giving riders a real alternative to owning a car. In reality individual car ownership is a necessity, not so much a luxury for people living in cities like Bangalore. The good news is that technology allows us to get more people into fewer cars effectively and efficiently.
Technology today provides an alternative to a world that looks like a parking lot and moves like a traffic jam. If there is one city in the country that needs these solutions more than any other – it is Bangalore.
As a Bangalore resident, you can make a difference by speaking up on how uberPOOL is making our city a better place to live in. Help make sure our city moves forward on ridesharing, through products like uberPOOL and uberMOTO. We’re excited for Bangalore to join other progressive cities around the world by embracing the benefits ridesharing brings to cities, by working with the government of Karnataka.
Together, let’s keep Bangalore moving.
