Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Tuesday clarified that carpooling in Bengaluru has not been banned. Speaking to reporters, Mr Reddy said that using non-commercial private vehicles with white number plates for carpooling is illegal.
"Who told you we have banned? Show me the document," he told reporters when asked about the media reports claiming a ban on carpooling in Bengaluru.
"The app-based carpooling services are running. Only one or two have been fined," he added.
The Karnataka Minister also said that the State government will hold a meeting with carpooling aggregators on Tuesday evening to discuss the issue.
"White number plates can not be used for commercial purposes. Yellow number plates can be used," he said.
His remarks came after some media reports claimed that the Karnataka government has announced a ban on carpooling in Bengaluru, in keeping with the demands of taxi driver associations.
BJP attacks Karnataka government
Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janata Party (MP) Tejasvi Surya slammed the Karnataka government and said that they haven't "understood the very concept of carpooling".
"When the government says, they will permit carpooling in a yellow-board commercial vehicle, but not in a private white-board vehicle, it shows that they haven't understood the very concept of carpooling," Mr Surya, who represents the Bengaluru South constituency in Lok Sabha, said.
He stated that many countries like Singapore, France, and the US have created exemptions allowing private vehicles for carpooling to address urban congestion.
"Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar recently travelled to Singapore to see their best practices. Urge him to also take a cue from their Car Pooling Exemption Order & facilitate carpooling in Bengaluru," he added.
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