Travellers using carpooling apps slam RTO action against these services

Mahesh Kankale, an bureau attendant from Pune who travels play betwixt Pune and Shambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad) for work, who often uses carpooling apps similar BlaBlaCar, said that carpooling benefits the situation by decreasing postulation congestion. He emphasised the value of specified solutions for moving professionals and families.

While explaining the advantages of carpooling apps, Kankale said that helium offers his car’s bare seats done these platforms, shares question costs, and gains companionship portion reducing the fig of vehicles connected the road. He contrasted this with the inefficiency and precocious costs of nationalist transport, which helium finds time-consuming and inconvenient.

“Despite the guidelines introduced successful 2020 nether the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines by the Centre, the authorities authorities issued a contradictory notification successful January 2023, starring to the RTO targeting carpooling users,” Mahesh said, referring to the guidelines from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and NITI Aayog, which legitimize and modulate carpooling aggregators.

Many users emphasised that carpooling helps trim the c footprint of long-distance question and argued that banning carpooling apps would summation the fig of backstage vehicles connected the roads, worsening postulation congestion and making commuting much costly for individuals.
Rutuja Shinde, a sustainability auditor successful Pune and a BlaBlaCar idiosyncratic for the past 4 years, shared that she travels erstwhile a week to Pune from Shambhaji Nagar. She said that she prefers BlaBlaCar due to the fact that it helps her scope her bureau connected clip and saves fuel, which was the government’s main nonsubjective successful introducing thrust sharing platforms.

“Government buses person already been reduced, and adjacent though I americium getting the women’s payment of 50 percent disconnected connected tickets, I inactive can’t marque it to my bureau connected time. Then however does nationalist transport assistance me?” she said.

While discussing women’s safety connected app-based platforms, Shinde said that she had ne'er faced immoderate issues successful the past respective years. However, she confessed to coming look to look with immoderate problems oregon clashes successful nationalist transport and with transport vehicles similar cabs.

On the different hand, the Pune RTO defended its decision, citing that these aggregators were not registered arsenic transport operators nether existing laws successful Maharashtra, starring to concerns astir safety, accountability, and just contention with licensed transport providers.Vinayak Sakhare, ARTO, said thrust sharing aggregators were not complying with Maharashtra’s aggregator argumentation and truthful operated illegally.

“The authorities authorities has declared non transport vehicles arsenic unauthorised if their owners usage their backstage vehicles commercially to transport passengers,” helium said.

“We person received complaints that radical usage their idiosyncratic vehicles to make concern done these apps. We are locating specified individuals utilizing these apps and forwarding their cases to the cyber cell. These apps are not conscionable banned successful Pune but crossed the state,” added Sakhare. Currently, the Pune RTO has formed six squads deployed astatine places specified arsenic Navale Bridge Chowk, Chandani Chowk, Swargate, and Pune Railway Station to inspect and adjacent airs arsenic fake passengers to drawback violators.