Taxi hailing company Uber on Thursday said that its pooling service was the “future of urban mobility”. UberPOOL was “helping decongest cities by getting more people into fewer cars and making commuting more affordable”, the company said in a statement, according to The Times of India.
“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,” Uber said. The statement comes after Karnataka Transport Commissioner MK Aiyappa said that taxi aggregation services Ola and Uber only had contract carriage permits that do not allow them to pick up and drop passengers during the course of a ride.
Aiyappa explained that their contracts only allowed for “point-to-point drops and not picking up customers in between”. Uber said it will take up the matter with the Karnataka Transport Department. Representatives of cab aggregators are scheduled to meet officials on Monday.
Uber and Ola may still be forced to stop their ride-sharing services in Karnataka after the state’s transport commissioner deemed them illegal. The move is likely to affect the businesses of both companies as Karnataka capital Bengaluru is one of their biggest markets, along with Delhi and Mumbai, according to Mint.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!