ZipGo, the newbie out to disrupt BMTC's bus services monopoly?

@XS400 - The "Yelli Iddira?" service in BMTC was started as far as back in 2006. If the BMTC mafia had not dumped it (check here), it could easily have evolved to the very best form of tracking service, compared to any across the world even.

A mafia confederation continues to rule the BMTC even today. So, the challenge before TransitPedia or any such enterprise is going to be how to crack the mafia-raaj. Perhaps they could pick on the brains of Ashwin Rao (LokAyukta 'Honourable' Justice Bhaskar Rao's son) after he's released from jail.

Following are the excerpts from an article in the Citzens Matters on the subject (in italics; emphasis added by me - for the full text, click here), and my responses, para-wise:

And in a span of one month, apart from the expansion of services by ZipGo, cab service provider Ola too has announced of launching shuttle services in the city - - - “We have planned to launch 500 shuttles in over 100 routes in Bengaluru and Gurgaon from September 21st. Shuttle is a solution for daily commute from the Ola app. Shuttle experience would include free Wi-Fi, on demand entertainment and cashless transactions.

Excellent development.

- - - BMTC Staff and Workers’ Federation Convener A N Murthy. He accuses shuttle service providers of violating MVA and plying maxi cabs and buses without obtaining stage carriage permit. “Just like the existing private operators, even the app-based operators ply their vehicles with contract carriage permit. They will have to obtain stage carriage permit for their maxicab services, which they never do. Right from the elected representatives to the officials and police, all turn a blind eye despite being aware of the illegality involved,” he criticises.

However, most vehicle operators find it easy to operate under contract carriage permit than stage carriage, mainly because it difficult to obtain stage carriage permission. Procedures laid down in the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) make it is difficult for the applicant to get stage carriage permit sanctioned from the State / Regional Transport Authority. - - - In addition, the MVA also emphasises on giving preference to applications for permits from State transport undertakings over private undertakings.

Between Mr Murthy, the RTA and other ofiicialdom involved, and the politicos at the top, they have ensured that it is not only difficult, but just impossible to get a stage carriage license.

State Transport Commissioner Rame Gowda too agreed that there was confusion about the role of operator and aggregator. He says the Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014, once becomes a law, will clear the confusion. The draft has included the term “aggregators” and will bring IT-enabled transport system under legal framework.

This, as also removal of artificial classifications such as Contract, Carriage services etc (creations of the license-permit raaj, and ills associated with it) are envisaged in the bill, and hence the need to speed up its passage (those in agreement, may want to sign this petition).

- - - However, he said that operators should obtain route permission to ply on specific routes as per stage carriage norms, failing which they could be penalised.

Mr Rame Gowda perhaps sees this as the last opportunity to exercise his clout, for obvious reasons.

- - - One of the latest initiatives is installing GPS in all 6,500 BMTC buses. By this month end, all the buses will be equipped with GPS and control room will be able to track the problems real time,” she said, adding that electronic ticketing machines too will be introduced in BMTC buses from this month.

BMTC provided a "Yelli Iddira?" service, at the cost to it of a few lakhs, almost a decade back. Perhaps seeing no potential for "exploiting" it, they dumped it unceremoniously, even with it having operated successfully for well over six months (check here). Thereafter, Mysore KSRTC supposedly spent something like Rs 15 cr, a few years back, to put together its 'ITS system'. It hasn't been talked about as a model to follow, even by BMTC. BMTC then went about tying up with some Trimax, over a Rs 69 cr deal, which was supposed to be launched Independence day last year. Now, after the next Independence day, and over a month, the talk of the launch has been revived, at an additional 'marginal' Rs 10 cr (check here). Readers may draw their own conclusions.

As for myself, I am praying to Lord Ganesha (on this auspicious day) to strengthen the likes of ZipGo, Ola, as also Mr Nitin Gadkari's resolve to push for early passage of the Transport Bill '14, through Parliament.

Online cab aggregator Ola’s plan to start a bus service in Bengaluru called Ola Shuttle has taken a hit with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy stating that no permission has been sought for it.

- - - “However, we cannot grant them permission inside Bengaluru city limits, as Bengaluru Metro Transport Corporation is already operational here,” he said. If such operations are launched in Bengaluru city without permission, appropriate action will be taken, he added.

For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

Now, the Citizen Matters report, cited in my post of the 17th (scroll above), had, inter alia, stated as follows:

All the comfort apart, are the shuttle service introduced by ZipGo and to be introduced Ola service violating Motor Vehicles Act norms? Yes, says BMTC Staff and Workers’ Federation Convener A N Murthy. He accuses shuttle service providers of violating MVA and plying maxi cabs and buses without obtaining stage carriage permit. “Just like the existing private operators, even the app-based operators ply their vehicles with contract carriage permit. They will have to obtain stage carriage permit for their maxicab services, which they never do. Right from the elected representatives to the officials and police, all turn a blind eye despite being aware of the illegality involved,” he criticises.

The maxicab services, provided by private operators, have been in the picture from long, though operating very much in violation of the Contract Carriage Act. All the same, quite like Mr Murthy has stated, "right from the elected representatives to the officials and police, have all been turning a blind eye" to it. But, now when ZipGo and Ola come forward to professionalise, regularise, and bring in accountability to the services, the minister has a problem.

Isn't the reason very obvious? It was not as if a blind eye was being turned to the maxicab operations. It is plainly a mafia operation, of which they are all a part, in the process, short-changing the public, depriving the state of revenue, and also, being a total menace on the roads.

The need for reforms cannot get more imperative. Besides, public interest is supreme, and not BMTC's (check here)

1) From Cyberabad (for the full text of the report in the Indian Express, click here):
On Monday, the IT department and transport commissioner of Telangana will unveil alternative transport arrangements for Thursdays, which includes special buses, “she shuttles” for women and carpooling. Besides declogging the main roads in the area, HYSEA hopes to reduce pollution also.

2) From Gurgaon (for the full text of the report in the ToI, click here):
On Tuesday, Gurgaon put the brakes on cars, and accelerated into the future. It was the first instalment of the Car Free Day that the city will now observe every Tuesday starting next month.

- - - Shuttl, a private bus service, revealed a ridership of 3,198 on all car-free routes, which was one and a half times more than their daily average. In Cyber City, a fair number of office goers followed the advice of their companies. One building had 222 less cars parked, another had 115 fewer. And there was 'zero' parking in the area, one which sees 1,500 cars parked daily.

- - - Gurgaon lacks a public transport system worth its name. Garima, a resident of Sector 15 who commutes regularly from the city to Sohna, spoke for all when she said, "Car Free Day is a great initiative. However, I feel that the city needs a robust public transport system - especially buses - to make it a reality."

3) From Namma Bengaluru (for the full text of the report in the ToI, click here):
Buoyed by the success of the vehicle-free day at HSR Layout recently, the Karnataka government plans to make it a regular feature to promote walking, cycling and public transport not just in Bengaluru, but also in tier 2 cities.

Bengaluru district minister B Ramalinga Reddy said the government plans to hold the next vehicle-free day at Koramangala and BTM Layout followed by one in Mysuru. "We haven't decide whether to have it first at Koramangala or BTM Layout. We're working on the logistics to make it a success. Later, we plan to take it to tier 2 cities."

- - "Both the state and Centre are investing heavily on public transport, mainly Metro and BMTC. But people continue to disregard such services. It's high time they use them as it's good for health too", says V Manjula, commissioner, Directorate of urban land transport.

From all of the above, what shows out clearly is the need for efficient, and varied forms of public bus transport services. Now, the important question that arises then is why should it remain the monopoly domain of government service providers, when, over the years, they have shown themselves to be incapable of meeting the demand.

Shuttl, a private bus service, has already proved its mettle in Gurgaon. ZipGo and Ola can do even better in Bengaluru, making everyday a "reduced car usage day", and if facilitated further, totally car-free days too. But then why is the government not allowing them to operate, even as the neta's and babu's preach lofty ideals?

Perhaps, it's time people raised their demand, loud and clear, for an end to the government monopoly in these services, which is what this blog, and this petition are all about. The passing of the Transport Bill 2014 (refer the petition) will do away wth artificial classifications like "contract/ stage carriage, etc", and will pave the way for reputed private players to come into the picture. But, even today, under the existing laws too, the state government can facilitate their operations, if they choose to. We now need to give them no other choice.

PS: The emphasis to excerpts from the press reports have been provided by me.

The gang rape of the BPO employee has once again raised the issue of women's safety in the city. Lack of a good public transport system leaves many employees working late in IT City, helpless on the roads.

- - - It's a case of Nirbhaya again in Bengaluru, and no lessons have been learnt. Lack of public transport after 10pm gives rise to a parallel system of maxi cabs and private vans.

- - - "Generally after 9pm, bus schedules are reduced because BMTC primarily looks at revenue generation and not the social cause of a public transport system. Autorickshaws, too, are not safe for commuting at night, which is why maxi cabs take the chance and operate through the night. Many maxi cabs which complete their duties for one or more companies, operate during the lean hours and pick up commuters from bus stops and roadsides. This has become the normal night transport service in the city, in the absence of BMTC services," says MN Sreehari, transport infrastructure and mobility expert.

Maxi cabs that pick up or drop off employees after 10 or 11pm are not tracked by companies that hire them, or the vehicle owners.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the ToI, click here.

Once again, the incapacity of BMTC to meet the burgeoning demand for public bus transport services has come to the fore, in a most unsavoury way. But, the warning signals were available from as far back as on 16th Dec, 2012 (Nirbhaya day), and even before, and many solutions were offered by various experts - some by Prajagalu too (check here). But, all to no avail, leading to a repeat of the Nirbhaya incident, and most shamefully, in the so-called tech capital of the country, and on the eve of the visit by Madame Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, the manufacturing tech centre of the world.

Now, the much reviled maxi-cabs have been operating in the city, meeting the demand unmet by BMTC, but without any checks whatsoever, from long. And, quite as Mr A N Murthy, BMTC Staff and Workers’ Federation Convener, has stated, all of this has been going on even as "elected representatives to officials and police, have all been turning a blind eye despite being aware of the illegality involved" (check my post of 21st Sept, scrolling above). In such a scenario, when ZipGo, Ola, Uber etc come forward to bring accountability to these operations, it's most unfortunate that the neta-babu combo, however, choose to put all kinds of hurdles before them.

As such, it's they and they alone that are responsible for the sorry plight of the women commuters of Bengaluru. It's time they all woke up and made a collective demand for an end to the BMTC monopoly, and immediate facilitation of bus/ maxi-cab/ taxi operations by reputed private players, all under the watchful eyes of a well constitued regulator. This blog, and this petition, are all about that. Do endorse the same, if in agreement.
 

On a day another rape was reported in Bengaluru, officials of the Transport Department advised commuters to avoid boarding private buses and maxi-cabs at night.

- - - Rame Gowda, Transport Commissioner, said, “We are keeping constant vigil on private vehicles. People should avoid using private maxi-cabs and private buses, in the interest of their own safety. We are also keeping a tab on vehicles without valid permits picking up passengers.”

A RTO official said Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy had called a meeting and discussed ways and means to make commuting safer.

For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

Yet another rape, and the response of the neta-babu lot is like that of a stuck tape recorder. The maxi-cab services are meeting the hugely growing demand that the BMTC is not in a position to do, and as such, the simple answer to the present problem would be to figure out a mechanism to make the services accountable. And, that's exactly what ZipGo, Ola, Uber, etc have offered to do.

Unfortunately, however, all that the neta-babu lot seem interested is in putting every kind of obstacle in the way of all of them, supposedly with a view to protecting BMTC's revenue earnings. The question that arises is, is that objective greater, or the convenience and safety of the commuting public, more particularly the women. In actuality, besides, the objective is not quite that - it's plainly the protection and furtherance of the vested interests of the entire mafia confederation in charge, of which the neta-babu combo are a part.

I had termed them "dogs in the manger", earlier (read my post of the 28th Oct, scrolling above). They actually are "hyenas in the manger". Their intolerance is the need of the hour.

Private bus aggregation startup Shuttl is learnt to have closed a fresh $25-million, or Rs 160 crore, funding round as they look to replicate the success of taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber. - - - - Around 16 ventures have come up in the bus aggregation space over the past few months catering largely to office goers in cities like Bangalore, Delhi NCR and Mumbai.

Seeing a massive business potential, risk investors have been very closely watching the bus aggregation service. In India, about 70 lakh people commute daily using public vehicles and the industry is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore, of which online aggregation is at a minuscule size. According to startup data collector Traxcn, the sector has received a total funding of $3.75 million with ventures like Cityflo, Zipgo and Limo, formerly rBus, raising angel rounds. In fact, the country's largest cab haling app Ola, which also runs its shuttle service, is planning to invest about Rs 150-200 crore in this space and has already launched in Gurgaon.

Shuttl at present is registering 10,000-15,000 bookings per day with more than 450 buses on its platform. The ticket size ranges from Rs 20-70 for the Gurgaon-based online bus aggregator. With fresh funds, it plans to enter major metro cities like Mumbai and Bangalore while it would also venture out into select non-metro cities.

- - - Experts say it would be interesting to see how these companies compete with state sector-run bus services, which are priced far lower, besides facing regulatory issues, especially in cities like Bangalore. Some investors are of the view that the bus aggregation space is huge and with Uber not having done this globally, an Indian player has the chance of owning this market fully.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

Well, their services are very badly needed across the country, and they seem to be in here for the long haul too. It would be best if the state transport ministry lot see the writing on the wall, and make way for them. And, it's time the citizens, on their part, started raising the demand for the same.

Bus aggregator ZipGo has launched shuttle services to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at a rate of Rs149 from 14 points in the city .

The app-based shuttle service launched operations on New Year's Eve, although BMTC raised objections to it. The corporation claims the facility is parallel to its airport-bound Vayu Vajra service, which is costlier.

ZipGo's AC mini-bus service is available from 6am to 9pm in the following areas: Banashankari, Bannerghatta Road, BTM Layout, Electronics City, HSR Layout, Indiranagar, JP Nagar, Jalahalli, Jayanagar, Koramangala, Marathahalli, Sarjapura Road, Vijaynagar and Whitefield.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added is mine) in the ToI, click here.

Well, as recently as on Dec 17th, the following was the Transport Commissioner's stand - The routes in the city limits have been nationalised and only BMTC can operate. It is like (sic) monopoly.'' He made it clear that that the drive against ZipGo will be revived if they were to restart operations in the city as ''rules prohibit they cannot operate as stage carriage vehicles like BMTC buses'', going by the Bangalore Mirror report accessible here. The report besides stated - ZipGo Technologies Pvt ltd, the bus shuttle service, not only was successful in launching its operations in Gurgaon with a women-exclusive transportation service on Tuesday but also got police brass flagging off the buses.

So, is one to believe that the Gurgaon government's action shamed 'Namma Governmentu' lot into reversing their earlier approach of nit-picking on the fine-print of the law to finding ways to thwart the operations? Shame and government johnnies - can there be a connection at all?!!! Or, is it that seeing the tide clearly turning against them, they finally compromised on their 'pound of flesh'? Either way, to ensure permanency, perhaps time the citizens joined in the demand for passing of the Transportation Bill, which provides for it, overall - check here.

Now, while Namma Governmentu's posturings can perhaps be explained thus, what possibly is the explanation for the Dilli (AAP) sarkar quietly making a U-turn on their earlier stance of a clear "no" to Uber/ Ola cab operations? And, now that they have relaxed on it, are they going to be allowing ZipGo too, who are best equipped for deployment of the thousands of private and school buses (as compared to DTC) for the everyday aam aadmi commute?

Also, now that ZipGo has been allowed into providing airport connectivity, shouldn't every Koramangala, Whitefield, Electronic city etc, and more importantly Namma Metro, too be having shuttle services (provided by the likes of ZipGo) feeding the Big-10 services (where BMTC can concentrate its efforts)?

These are plainly to the route to incentivising people to take to public transport, and thereby reduce the clutter on the roads.

US-based ride hailing service, Uber, plans to invest Rs 99 crore in Karnataka, seeking concessions from the state government under the Information Technology Act. While the government has cleared the project, it has asked Uber to comply with state rules, including the soon-to-be-announced app-based taxi aggregator law.

Uber’s investment in the state will be directed towards expansion of its service and setting up of its first development center in the country at Bengaluru. It has sought concessions in the form of "on-demand taxi aggregator regulations", "ridesharing pilot and regulations" and "concessions on water and electricity".

- - - “..the transport department is in the process of framing City Taxi Scheme 2015 under the section 39 of the MV Act 1988 for the aggregators in the state" said Dr. Ramegowda, commissioner of the state transport department. - - - Karnataka will become the first state to regulate app-based taxi aggregators in India with a set of rules that will be announced sometime next week.

- - - Uber proposes to grow its base of driver partners from 15,000 to 1,00,000 in the state, and also increase its full-time employee strength to 200 people from 15 currently, who will develop local features and services for its platform in the country.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added is by me) in the ToI, click here.

So, finally, the Transport department has come round to looking into the fine-print to figure out ways to accommodate the aggregators, as compared to their earlier approach of figuring out ways to block them. Apparently, the grip of the mafia confederation that has been ruling the roost all this while, has got loosened.

Now, however, Uber, ZipGo, Ola, etc cater largely to the "khaas aadmi". If the "aam aadmi" too is to benefit, what is required of the government is to take the next big step of the opening up of the regular bus services too, to reputed private players (check here for more on that), perhaps simultaneous with the revamping of the entire regulatory set up under a duly empowered UMTA (Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority). That'll be the ultimate test for the government.

And transport dept did not try to block uber or other taxi services.

As against that, following are the extracts from an Indian Express report cited by me on 21/09/15 (may be accessed srolling above):

"Online cab aggregator Ola’s plan to start a bus service in Bengaluru called Ola Shuttle has taken a hit with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy stating that no permission has been sought for it. - - - “However, we cannot grant them permission inside Bengaluru city limits, as Bengaluru Metro Transport Corporation is already operational here,” he said. If such operations are launched in Bengaluru city without permission, appropriate action will be taken, he added."

nothing new about uber- they are another taxi co.

The world-view is obviously different, as can be guaged from the interview of Mr Travis Kalanick, Uber CEO, by Shekhar Gupta, accessible here.

Xs400- you are spot on

He has been saying there's no hope, either way. If that's being "spot on", why bother to blog even? May be look for a Shangrila, and emigrate there.

blatant diregard for rule of law by Indians in India - - - Any rule gets circumvented & so, rules always tend never to be liberal. The misuse of permits & bribery continues & is almost impossible to erradicate.

Every economist worth his name has been critcising the licence-permit raaj, that has been prevailing all this while, creating all kinds of artificialities - like, in the case of public bus transport services, the huge shortage of supply, even as there's a burgeoning demand. The governments have been reluctant to effect the correctives because of vested interests of the powers that be. However, finally, they are beginning to realise that they can't carry on fooling all the people all the time, and beginning to look at re-writing the laws to accommodate the Uber's, Ola's and ZipGo's. The world at large is welcoming that, and also beginning to ask for more.

Politicians have their vote base elsewhere & rules get framed based on where they get dragged by their vote banks, not by what economists & TV anchors that never vote wish for.

Yes, perhaps there's truth in that. But, when it's obviously not the right solution, isn't it incumbent on the people to demand change?

And, as for the rest, I'll reproduce the following excerpts from a ToI report I had cited in my post of 7th Dec,'15 (scroll above to read), which are self-explanatory:

Private bus aggregation startup Shuttl is learnt to have closed a fresh $25-million, or Rs 160 crore, funding round as they look to replicate the success of taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber. - - - - Around 16 ventures have come up in the bus aggregation space over the past few months catering largely to office goers in cities like Bangalore, Delhi NCR and Mumbai.

Seeing a massive business potential, risk investors have been very closely watching the bus aggregation service. In India, about 70 lakh people commute daily using public vehicles and the industry is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore, of which online aggregation is at a minuscule size. According to startup data collector Traxcn, the sector has received a total funding of $3.75 million with ventures like Cityflo, Zipgo and Limo, formerly rBus, raising angel rounds. In fact, the country's largest cab haling app Ola, which also runs its shuttle service, is planning to invest about Rs 150-200 crore in this space and has already launched in Gurgaon.

Shuttl at present is registering 10,000-15,000 bookings per day with more than 450 buses on its platform. The ticket size ranges from Rs 20-70 for the Gurgaon-based online bus aggregator. With fresh funds, it plans to enter major metro cities like Mumbai and Bangalore while it would also venture out into select non-metro cities.

Yes, ZipGo as envisaged now, is essentially targeting the "khaas aadmi". But, even that can contribute to de-congesting the roads in a big way. For instance, if allowed to operate without the unnecessary hindrances, it could very well lead to over 50% of the 250 odd cars, in the complex where I reside, remaining in the basement during the work day. Replicated across the city, that can make for a huge difference.

And, if allowed to provide regular services, they can cater to the needs of the "aam aadmi" too, either way far better than what BMTC/ KSRTC are doing currently, and perhaps at cheaper fares too.

The monopoly situation protects and perpetuates a whole lot of vested interests of the neta-babu combo through all kinds of articialities, and that's also why they are tenaciously holding onto it, for all they are worth. Once a decision is taken to dismantle it, everything will fall in place, including the necessary tweaking of the regulatory mechanism, and you'll have much better services, quite like in airlines, telecom, banking, insurance, etc, which too were as bad before they were opened out.

Besides, in this context, following two quotes come to mind too:

1) By Dr A S Joglekar (who used to blog extensively on Praja, once) made in Jan, '09:

In 04-05, I worked at the North end of London. A 15 mile journey from home by tube took 2 hours, buses even longer - so, I used neither. I used my car daily, covering the distance in 90 minutes on an average, one way.

In contrast today, I was at a conference at Oxford Circus - similar distance - 90 minutes by tube, would have been less by car. But, I did not use the latter because of £8/- congestion charges, and £10/- parking charges for whole day.

2) Author unknown - Father waits for 1 hr to save Rs 10/-; son spends Rs 10/- to save 1 hr.

Despite the Prime Minister putting a great deal of energy into promoting a startup campaign with the tagline ‘we unobstacle’, the winds of change do not seem to have circulated down to India’s startup capital.

In yet another instance of rapidly-evolving technologies being obstructed by stagnant laws, ZipGo, a Bengaluru-based startup that provides minibus and van hailing services, has been forced to suspend operations in the city. Transport Department officials raided ZipGo’s offices and seized vehicles in an effort to get the company to desist what they see as a violation of the State government’s monopoly over bus transport.

- - - “Private motor vehicles, that is, cars and motorcycles, are the real threat to government-run public transport, not privately run public transport. Whether it be the humble share-autos or nifty tech-enabled transit services, these private enterprises reduce congestion and improve mobility,” says Shreya Gadepalli, Regional Director of the Institute for Transport and Development Policy.

- - - While stage carriage is an exclusive monopoly of the BMTC, contract carriage is open to private players. Sharma is hopeful that, as in the case of the taxi companies, dialogue will resolve the impasse. “If they are a contract carrier their vehicles should go from point A to Z. Instead, they stop at B, C, D and E along the way thanks to bookings from the app. This means they are a stage carrier,” said Narendra Holkar, Joint Commissioner for Transport of Bengaluru Urban and Rural.

The Road Transport and Safety Bill, a draft law that cuts through the confusion by doing away with the distinction between stage and contract carriage has been awaiting parliamentary approval since 2014.

ZipGo also operates in New Delhi, where regulators have been much more accommodating due to the pressures placed on the transport system. “The Delhi government is more progressive on this, because it has been dealing with the issue [of traffic and air pollution] for the last 20 years,” says Sharma. “Delhi has more vehicles than Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata combined. But the rate of growth of vehicle population is the same in Bengaluru as in Delhi today. And it is one-third the size of Delhi.”

Holkar, however dismisses the potential benefits of the service with respect to reducing congestion and pollution, insisting that it is illegal and cannot be allowed to operate. If the aim is to protect the BMTC’s bottomline, shutting down one startup is unlikely to improve the balance sheets of a corporation that hasn’t seen profits in five years.

And these losses are perfectly acceptable according to Gadepalli. “Public transportation is not a business. It’s a service to improve urban mobility, while consuming very little road space, fuel and money per person,” she said, adding that public and private transport operators can co-exist as long as adequate safety regulations are put in place. “It is ironic that public agencies, rather that curbing the use of cars and motorcycles, use arcane regulations to put the brakes on private sector initiatives to improve public transport.”

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the Hindu Businessline, click here.

For all the Invest Karnataka and such jamboree's, the government, more specifically the Transport ministry, remains stuck in its "we obstacle" mode.

Further, Mumbai's BEST (in bus services), as also the commuter trains, are both supposedly efficient. But, both are making huge losses. So much so, they are hard put to carry on even their day to day operations, leave alone expansion to meet the hugely growing demand, or upgradation of their service levels. That's where the need for profits come in, since, if you are forever looking for subsidy support, there are far more deserving demands from sectors like healthcare, primary education, etc, and you can't claim precedence over them. So, statements like "losses are acceptable in public transport" only tend to promote mediocrity and eventual decay. Subsidy support may be required in very select cases, but it should be limited to just them. BMTC, in Bengaluru, is operating Volvo bus services for the "khaas aadmi", and incurring losses there too.

Namaskaara Vidyadhar sahibarae - Suggest you go through this post, as also the entire blog.

http://praja.in/en/blog/silkboard/2009/09/11/bmtc-and-possible-open-market-proposals-or-experiments#comment-17260

It provides all the possible answers. Now, in addition, you have the ZipGo too. All that's required of the government is to facilitate them, instead of trying to protect BMTC's revenue interests, particularly so, when it works against public interest. Actually, however, protection of BMTC's interest is only a cover for protection and perpetuation of various vested interests.

It's time the people said enough is enough.

A day after cab aggregators Uber and Ola launched on-demand bike rideshare services in Bengaluru, the transport department described them as illegal. It asked citizens not to use the the services.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

When the government-owned BMTC cannot meet the ever-growing demand for public transport services, one would think an elected government would welcome and facilitate every entrepreneur coming forward to meet them in every conceivable way, particularly when they are from the organised sector, where overall accountability is a given. But, namma governmentu chooses to remain in the "we obstruct" mode to them, even as they play footsie with any number of unorganised sector players, plying all kinds of contraptions, putting the lives of the users to grave risk.

It's high time the people arose with one voice and demanded a more accountable transport ministry.

"To teach a lesson to cab aggregators Ola and Uber for operating bike taxis without permits", transport department officials are now upto sting operations to trap them, going by the ToI report (emphasis added by me) accessible here.

The report further adds as below:

The final notification on the rules for aggregators will be out soon. But we don't know whether the state transport authority (STA) has included autorickshaws and bikes under the ambit of the new law. The aggregators argued that they started bike taxis only to ease congestion and address people's transportation needs. Even food delivery on bikes is illegal because every two-wheeler is a private vehicle and vehicles with white board registrations cannot be used for commercial purposes under the MV Act, Maruti Sambrani, joint commissioner, transport department.

The talk of "notification of rules for aggregators" has been going on from over a year. The "state transport authority (STA)" currently is the state "Transport Department", which neither has the capacity, nor the intent to come up with a proper framework that meets the demands of the day. All it seems to be interested in is furthering the vested interests of the powers that be.

The following excerpts from a Bangalore Mirror report (for the full text, click here), citing Dr Ashwin Mahesh, urbanist and social technologist, is of relevance here.

Transport for London, for example, is responsible for all of that city's rail networks (including the underground and surface rails), buses and taxis, trams, cycling infrastructure, the major roads, and even river transport on the Thames. Likewise, in many other large cities around the world, it is this integrated responsibility that makes a total solution possible.

Drawing on the global experience, the government of Karnataka in 2006 created the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA). Its list of responsibilities read much like the one that guides Transport for London, except that the latter is a powerful and functional organisation with a key role in the planned development of London, whereas BMLTA is denuded and dormant, and has become irrelevant to the city.

BMLTA should be made the functional organisation responsible for running both BMTC and the metro services, as well as the planned development of pedestrian and cycling facilities, and the major road network for the entire region. It should be accountable for providing specified levels of services in each neighbourhood, using a mix of options. It is then that we will begin to get the total solution that the city desperately needs.

Meanwhile, ZipGo has more or less decided to move out of Bengaluru, with the political leadership here doing everything to obstruct them, to cities (Delhi, Gurgaon, NOIDA, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Chennai) where the political leadership is welcoming of them, seeing value in their services. Ironically, it was seeing Bengaluru as holding the greatest potential, as also the impression they had that the state government was largely progressive in its outlook, that ZipGo had chosen the city as their base. Some six months of everyday battle with the department, and they have decided they have had enough (for more on that, click here) - so much for the stae's much touted 'invest' Karnataka.

The transport deparment has finally decided to clear the confusion over bike taxis. Due to mounting pressure from the public and operators, it has decided to frame rules to legalize the service.

- - - According to a source in transport department, the government is planning to ban ferrying of food or goods in bulk as the practice can be dangerous.

For the full text (emphasis added by me) of the report in the ToI, click here.

So, the Transport Dept can respond to public pressure too!!! One wonders, why they can't, in the first place, go by simple logic.

And, as for ferrying bulk goods, it's  been going on right under their nose all along, as seen in the picture below.

But, it's only when the FlipCart/ Zomato/ Swiggy delivery boys cart their wares in neatly designed bags, taking care of most safety issues, that the Transport dept johnnies have a problem. The reasons are not too far to seek, right!

Acting on a complaint by the BEST Undertaking, officials of the Regional Transport Office at Tardeo have begun a crackdown against app-based bus aggregators.

The officials on Tuesday and Wednesday seized five air-conditioned mini buses — two at Chembur and three at Bandra-Kurla Complex — for picking up passengers from multiple locations which breaches the condition of contract carriage permit.

The buses were ferrying passengers who had booked a ride on the app of bus aggregator, Cityflo.

- - - Bus operators, however, said that BEST should not object to their services as the undertaking does not operate AC buses. “If the service of app-based aggregators is illegal, why does the RTO not take action against online booking sites?” said a bus operator.

According to RTO officials, the app-based bus services have gained popularity as they are air-conditioned, offer competitive rates and better facilities and services compared to others.

“Bus aggregators charge Rs90 as fare for a single journey from Borivli to BKC, which is quite a competitive rate,” said an RTO official.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in The Hindustan Times, click here.

Even as the RTO officials talk of all the positives of the app-based services, they want to curb them just because of complaints by the BEST mafioso. What kind of a logic is that?

Simultaneously, the following are the extracts from a ToI report about BEST operations (for the full text, click here):

The BEST undertaking is burdened with an old fleet of buses, with the average age of vehicles being 9.5. No wonder then commuters often complain about the rattling red buses with leaking roofs.

In 2012-13, the BEST boasted of a much younger fleet—over 1,000 buses were three to six years old and most of the remaining others were seven years old. But today, over 56% of the 3,963-strong fleet is over eight years old. According to the latest BEST statistics, 298 buses are 12-13 years old, 214 are 13-14 years old and 122 are nearly 15 years old.

And, the following are the extracts from another ToI report (for the full text, click here):

A BEST official said, "We are incurring transport losses to the tune of Rs 900 crore annually and many passengers have migrated to share autos and taxis in the past two years.

The same report cited Union finance minister Arun Jaitley (in his budget speech) saying "Entrepreneurs will be able to operate buses on various routes, subject to certain efficiency and safety norms. The major benefits of this game-changing initiative will be provision of more efficient public transport facilities, greater public convenience and new investment in this moribund sector. - - - The entry of private entrepreneurs into the transport sector will not only benefit commuters, but also have a major impact on state agencies, including the BEST undertaking and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)".

The report also points to the reason, as "Protests by unions in the public transport undertakings and autorickshaw and taxi unions are likely. Union leader Shashank Rao said, "We will oppose any plan to introduce private players in the transport sector, which will affect BEST." He had recently called for an auto strike to demand a ban on private taxi aggregators, like Uber and Ola".

Like I had stated elsewhere, their protests are like those of SBI staff when computer was introduced first, and those of STD booth operators when mobile phone usage spread. Now, all of CityFlo, ZipGo, Uber, Ola etc need lots of drivers and staff at various levels, and it's time they moved over to them, where they can be expected to be employed at higher wage levels, but, of course, will lose out on the 'perks' of the government job (check here, for more on that).

But, the more important question is, is Phadnavis-ji going to be taking up the cue given by Jaitley-ji, or going to be competing with Siddaramaiah-avaru in 'obstructing' an excellent business proposition that has all the poistives listed by his own RTO officials, minus the negatives of car-pooling? 
 

Even as ZipGo was driven out of the city by the obstructionist ways of namma Transport ministry lot, just a few minutes back, I received a mail from Ola (attached with the above picture) announcing the commencement of their Shuttle services, quite on the same lines as ZipGo.

So, what is one to make out - that ZipGo didn't know how to strike a "deal" with the ministry lot - what else can it be?

Either way, since it's a service that combines all the positives of Odd-Even and car-pooling, minus all their negatives, it cannot but be welcomed by citizens.

The Economist's index of crony capitalism states that "Crony wealth in India has come down sharply from 18 per cent of GDP in 2008 to just 3 per cent of GDP today" (check the NDTV report here). Apparently, Karnataka accounts for a major share of the remaining 3%, and this deal is evidence of that.

Another significant development, going by the NDTV.com report cited in the above post, is seen in the following excerpts:

While announcing the scheme last month, Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai had said that bus aggregators will have an individual app like Ola, Uber and they will be allowed to decide their fares, but if need arises government will prescribe upper limit of fares or take steps to check predatory pricing.

Welcoming the government's move to introduce app-based premium bus Services, Ola said that it looks forward to working with the government in extending a world class daily commute solution from Ola Shuttle, to citizens across the state.

This is a major improvement from the earlier antagonistic approach of the government towards the same Ola and Uber on their "surge pricing" in cab services. To that extent, the AAP government needs to be given due credit, as compared to the Karnataka government which just resorts to a cat & mouse game (see my post of 4th April, scrolling above).

Now, when the surge pricing was upto 2X, there was very little resistance from the consumers; when it went up to 2.5X, there were murmurs, and quite often a switch to other modes. It was only when it started going to 3X levels and beyond, that the consumers started complaining, and the government came up with its knee-jerk reaction of the total ban (on surge pricing - check my post of 18th Jan, scrolling above). The inevitable fall-out was the total disarray of an otherwise excellently conceived and executed service, which was benefitting the consumers, the drivers, the operators, and even the government (through increased service tax earnings). Actually, all that the government needed to do was to prescribe an upper limit, of say 2X or 2.5X, as it is now talking about in the case of the bus services. The fact of the matter, besides, is that, with a free-er regime, leading to further competition, the surge will by itself get regulated to reasonable levels, with the government rarely having to intervene.

While on the subject, it needs to be added that it's high time the government set up a properly constituted and empowered regulatory body, along the lines of UMTA (Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority), already envisaged in the ROAD TRANSPORT AND SAFETY BILL 2015 (more on that, may be accessed here), currently before the Parliament, instead of handling it all departmentally. It'll be good if the Delhi government can starightaway set an example for the rest of the country to follow.

In the midst of all of these, yes, the auto-rickshaw and kaali-peeli lot will be the losers. But, very clearly, their days are over (check here for more on that), and the government would do well to help them to upgrade themselves and join the cab/ bus aggragated operations.

In my post of 26th May (scroll above to read), I had quoted an NDTV.com report stating that the AAP sarkar in Delhi was opening up the "high-end bus services", even the ones licensed as "stage carriages", to private players.

Appended below is the formal announcement from the government.

The government needs to be complimented on taking this bold step, which perhaps is the first of its kind for the country, and could now become a trend-setter, considering the huge difference it's going to be making to mobility, for the khaas aadmi, to begin with, and which could very well be rolled out to the aam aadmi too, as it evolves.  

In my petition to the CM of Karnataka (accessible here), I had identified the high-end services; services to IT/ ITES industry, schools, etc; shuttle services, etc, that could be targeted for making over to the private sector, while retaining just the regular Big-10 services for BMTC. Well, it's a happy augury that at least the Delhi government has seen meaning in it all, and taken the vital first step.

The problem for BMTC now, for following the Delhi model, is going to be the question of return on the Rs 79 cr odd they have invested on the fancy ITS service (check here for more on that), which is mostly targeted at the khaas aadmi. Well, even the aam services have their use for ITS, even if limited, and as such, that need not be a constraint, considering the tremendous benefits that will accrue to the city and citizens by following the Delhi model.

Now, what has been envisaged looks perfectly suited to executive/ manager level lot (as also the IT/ ITES sector lot) for their daily commute to and from work. It doesn't quite suit the needs of other bus users. Perhaps, the government could look at the option suggested here (or, variations thereof, evolved out of a lot of debate on the blog itself). In such services, perhaps, a few standing passengers could also be accommodated, since the distances covered aren't too long.

Further, the government seems to have gone overboard with the security features stipulated. Ola/ Uber lot have over the years instilled a fair amount of confidence, even amongst women users, in their in-built systems. Perhaps, these too need some review.

Whatever, it's a great first step. And it's hoped, with the setting up of the UMTA (going by this report), these regulations will evolve, over time, to become the best of solutions for city mobility.

Reading my post of 7th June (scroll above), a friend (AAP member) called to say that the Delhi Lt Governor was disallowing the scheme. I told him that it could at best be a temporary hitch, which, considering its merits, the CM and the Lt Governonr should be able to sit across the table and sort out, whatever issues there are, in the overall interest of the public.

However, seeing the India Today TV discussion over the matter, last evening, it now appears that that is not quite happening. Apparently, the Lt Governor wants to be seen as more loyal to the Crown than the King himself; and the CM's belligerent attitude towards the Lt Governor, right from the word go, hasn't helped matters any.

The problem appears to be largely on the following two counts - my responses to the same are added alongside:

1) The government used an enabling provision in the relevant Act, to push through the scheme, though strictly speaking the same would apply only for emergency situations, and hence it amounts to a violation of the Act.

The government's argument here is that the serious pollution hazard faced by the city is enough of an emergent scenario to merit the application of the provision. Well, undoubtedly, the pollution scenario is quite serious, and all that it needed now was to quickly amend the Act to allow for the application of the provision in such situations too.  

2) There was no tender, and the scheme has been tailored to suit just one aggregator.

This appears meaningless to me. The very first provision in the scheme states that it is open to any company that mobilises 50 or more buses. And, in today's world, you'll have any number of companies coming on board to do that, and more, in no time at all. As such, how can it be termed as tailored to suit just one aggregator, and also, where's the need for any tender?

Essentially, the government has gone about implementing the scheme in a disruptive manner, not quite the way the bureaucracy is used to. And the Lt Governor is using the opportunity to curry favour with his Big Boss (unmindful of whether he wants it that way or not), even though, the junior boss (Arun Jaitley-ji) is supposed to have openly lauded the scheme, that too in the presence of other states' CM's, recommending to them in addition to follow suit too. Arun Jaitley-ji had in fact, in his budget speech itself, talked about how he was looking forward to the opening up of the sector to private players, with the passage of the Transport Bill (expected to be passed in the monsoon session), so that the quality of service improves (check my ost of 21st April, scrolling above).

Very correctly as Sri Manish Sisodia had pointed out, during the India Today show, transport portfolio across the country has been considred 'lucrative', being as they are in the grip of "mafia confederations", and perhaps it requires totally disruptive approaches to liberate them. The extent to which it is so, can be guaged from Karnataka Transport minister's move at this stage to re-nationalise even the currently open routes (check here, for more on that)

One would have hoped that the BJP would extend support to the overall cause, in keeping with Arun Jailey-ji's talk, rather than being obstructionist by resorting to nit-picking.

Ola becomes the first licensed cab aggregator in India. H G Kumar, state transport authority officer told TOI in an exclusive chat: "I have signed and approved the license for Ola on Monday. They are now legalized as cab aggregators in Karnataka. But they have furnished details of 100 vehicles only. They have to make several other arrangements as per the new regulations."

- - - Uber has knocked the High Court on several issues particularly against the cap on surge pricing.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the ToI, click here.

The license has come with a whole lot of unimplementable conditions, which have obviously been brought in so that the "inspector raaj" can continue, after having negotiated their respective ways through the "license-permit raaj". Ola with its big-buck backing could 'manage' it. But not ZipGo, who then chose to back out, and go to Mumbai and other places, where perhaps the 'terms' where much softer. On Uber, perhaps the demands are much higher, being a multi-national, and also its having received a large tranche of funds recently, being splashed in the papers.

These aggregators have been a big boon for the otherwise grid-locked citizens (thanks to BMTC's monopoly in public transport), and while one would have expected their facilitation by the government, what we are seeing are these shennanigans in pursuit of the various vested interests of the mafia confederation members involved.

What's required first and foremost is the institution of a duly empowered UMTA (Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority) as the regulator, in place of the Transport Department, alongwith total revamp of the related policies (perhaps involving reputed think-tanks, and institutions like CiSTUP, IIM, NLSUI, etc), in line with the new Transport Bill (awaiting parliamentray approval).

Fed up of crowded buses during peak hours? Here’s good news, especially for techies. Private mini-buses could be connecting you to the IT corridors soon. The BMTC is the sole provider of bus transport in Bengaluru. Private operators will be allowed to run mini-buses with 15 to 22 seats, according to a proposal.

“We are examining the legal implications, since BMTC holds the exclusive right to run public transport in the city. The Transport Department will have to issue stage carriage permits to private firms,” said a BMTC official.

The department recently stopped the introduction of private maxi-cabs on the grounds that intra-city transport was the BMTC’s look-out. The BMTC will not allow money transactions on the private buses. “Availability of seats will be displayed on the BMTC website and commuters will have to book their seats online,” an official source said.  

The idea is to generate revenue for BMTC and tackle congestion in the IT corridors by reducing the number of cars. “We are yet to decide on the fares,” said another BMTC official.

- - - urban expert M N Sreehari is not so upbeat. “Private firms ply only on profit-making routes. The arrangement may also lead to corruption,” he said.

The BMTC is facing a financial crunch, especially after this month’s revision of salaries. It has not added any new buses since December 2014.  The BMTC deploys about 700 buses to corporate destinations. About 50 companies have tied up with it to pick up and drop their employees.

For the full text (emphasis added by me) of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

This is clearly an admission by the Transport department (rather the ministry) of BMTC's capacity limitations. It augurs well that it has finally come to accept that.

Now, the tech entrepreneurs (like ZipGo) had seen it, quite some time ago as an opportunity for business, and worked out their bus aggregation model, which I'd rate as far better than the odd-even scheme (for reducing congestion in city roads), for which Arvind Kejriwal was named in the recent Fortune-100 listings.

But now, going by this report, the government's plan seems to be to hijack the model to augment BMTC's revenue earnings !!! - just forget it, it's not going to work, quite like its earlier "wet lease operation" of private buses too (perhaps, this is what Prof Sreehari is referring to).

The city is desperate for solutions. ZipGo, Ola, Uber, etc have excellent models that can help greatly. But, Transport dept/ ministry continues to live in the past. It's time the entire lot, from the minister downwards, is replaced with a forward thinking team. May be the start-up minister, Sri Priyank Kharge, would like to take note.

And, as for BMTC, it'd be best if it strengthens its Big-10 and trunk operations, and left the rest to organised private sector operators, perhaps along this model - of course, all of it overseen by a properly constituted and empowered UMTA.

And, as for Prof Sreehari's comments "Private firms ply only on profit-making routes" - wouldn't it reduce congestion to that extent at least, Sir? Also, that need not be so, if you pursue the model cited above. Further, one hopes he begins to see meaning in the truism " father waits one hour to save Rs 10/-; the son spends Rs 10/- to save one hour".

Also, this arrangement whereby "BMTC deploys about 700 buses to corporate destinations. About 50 companies have tied up with it to pick up and drop their employees" should be considered against overall public interest, since it deprives the aam aadmi of basic services, particularly given the fact the BMTC is a government-run monopoly.

Cities such as New York and San Francisco have extensive public-transportation systems that carry millions of residents by bus, train, boat, and light rail. But in recent years, there’s been an expanding fleet of private vehicles too: Lyft, Uber, Juno, Uber Pool, and the Google Bus, to name a few. These offerings give commuters more choices, but may also undermine the public services available. They raise fundamental questions about the future of how people will get around cities.

- - - Why should anyone use public services if the private sector can provide the same service more efficiently? On an individual level, after all, the private bus was much more pleasant and not much more expensive. On the government level, privatization could save money. Privatizing public bus services could save $5.7 billion a year, according to a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in March.

- - - Matthew Mitchell, the director of the Project for the Study of American Capitalism at the Mercatus Institute, would like to see transit become completely privatized, with companies competing with each other to serve different lines, which would, he says, drive prices down. “Why not open up a system to market competition so that there can be a flourishing of all sorts of business models?” he said. When the airlines were deregulated, after all, cheap fares flourished, he said.

The private sector has some big advantages when it comes to improving existing infrastructure: It can innovate, using new technology and customer input in ways that government can’t. Government is huge, after all, and can’t experiment with money from venture capitalists to try out new ideas; it has to serve existing customers. This applies to things outside of transit, too. In today’s world, there are start-ups that try to create better schools, better mail delivery, and better loan products than what the government can currently provide.

- - - And if there are things that a city has decided it wants to provide—transit service to poor people who might not be able to afford the private options, for example—the government can provide vouchers so that people can choose whatever private option suits them best, Mitchell said. Rather than spending millions to operate multiple transit lines and modes—while losing money—the government can spend less and leave the headaches of running those systems to someone else. It can use the savings to pay for other, essential, government services. This is something cities across America are already experimenting with, contracting with ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft to provide rides to disabled people.

- - - A spokesperson for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) says that the agency is open to collaborating with services that can improve its transportation network.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the CityLab, click here.

Indian entrepreneurs, like ZipGo, CityFlo, etc were well onto these services even as their counterparts in the advanced countries were still toying with the concept. But, the unfortunate part is that, unlike San Francisco's SFMTA, in Namma Bengaluru, it's Transport Department under a Transport minister, that decides on these matters. And, between them, their main interest is in building TTMC's wherever there's vacant land under the control of the BMTC, that's their fiefdom, whether such a TTMC is required there or not, apart from other furthering other similar pursuits, the reason for all of it being very obvious. Under them, the BMTC has become the biggest single reason for the extremely poor mobility quotient in the city, this then leading to pursuit of even more disastrous solutions like the steel flyover for the speedier access of the chauffeured car driven lot to the city airport - check here.

All in all, high time Bengaluru too had a properly constituted and duly empowered Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), quite like SFMTA to steer our mobility planning and regulation.

The Centre's new guidelines governing taxi operators across the country will allow aggregators such as Ola and Uber to charge up to three times the minimum fare during the day and up to four times between midnight and 5 am. The guidelines will be submitted to the Delhi high court next week.

- - - The road transport ministry will submit the guidelines to the Delhi High Court next week. These have been framed after wide consultation with taxi players, state and central government departments following a Delhi High Court direction. With the aim to liberalise the entry and operation of taxis in order to push share riding and discourage use of private vehicles in cities.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the ToI, click here.

Overall, quite a satisfactory set of guidelines, one may say, particularly compared to the 'rubbish' that namma Transport department came up with (check my post of 11th April, scrolling above). If anyone has still has any reservations about surge pricing, the following excerpts from an interview of of Mr Travis Kalanick, the big boss of Uber (in the Wall Street Journal, ckeck here to read the full text), should put paid to them:

You know that if you buy a flight on the day before Christmas, it's probably 10 times more expensive than two weeks after Christmas. You're OK with that and you understand it. But in ground transportation, there's been fixed pricing for 100 years. Because of that, there's an education process. - - - - Friday night is three or five times bigger than a Sunday night in any city around the world. And if you've got enough supply on the system so that we were perfectly supplied on a Friday night for as much demand as a city could ever throw at us, then the rest of the week you have drivers not making a living.

If it still doesn't may be a reading of this will perhaps help guage their overall outlook.

And, now that these have been framed, would the Karnataka government like to invite ZipGo and the like back, and end Bengalurean's suffering under the BMTC monopoly tyranny?

The Commissioner suggested that the OlaShare and UberPool services could go on if the pick-up and drop points of the commuters are the same as the rules suggest that cab services cannot pick up and drop passengers at different locations. This is because they do not have stage carriage permits. This permit is issued only to BMTC buses.

The transport authority has also said that if the cab aggregators fail to comply with the rules, the car-pooling service would be suspended.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in The News Minute, click here.

Even as the entire world is exhorting people to use car pools, here's the Transport Dept banning shared cab rides, using the archaic Contract/ Stage Carriage rules (check here for the difference), for no obvious reason other than to perpetuate the vested interests of the mafia confederation that it's a part of. It's these very rules that have been used by them, all this while, to keep out effective competition to BMTC and KSRTC, and in the process, cause mobility to be ranked at about the lowest amongst the factors affecting quality of life in the city and the state.     

All in all, high time Bengaluru had a properly constituted and duly empowered Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) to steer our mobility planning and regulation, quite as envisaged under the Road Transport and Safety Bill (check here), awaiting Parliament approval. Now, whereas a "dynamic" city, like Namma Bengaluru should normally have been leading this exercise, the transport mafia confederation is not going to be allowing it too easily, and that's all the more the reason why the citizens need to come together to demand its implementation right away.

App-based aggregators Ola and Uber may soon have to install digital meters and get it approved by the Department of Legal Metrology.

- - - According to rules, any measuring instrument that leads to a transaction should be verified by the Legal Metrology Department. The Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016, also make it mandatory for taxis to operate with digital meters that can generate printed receipts.

A recent study conducted by International Center for Automotive Technology (ICAT) found that poor mobile network may create discrepancies in calculating fares by measuring distance using GPS. The study also found that malfunctioning GPS due to poor mobile signals resulted in an increase in the fare in most cases.  

Autorickshaw and taxi unions in the city have been demanding that app-based operators should also install digital meters claiming that present GPS-enabled phones are not accurate in calculating the distance travelled.

However, many commuters says that app-based fare calculation using GPS is more reliable than traditional meters. “Many autorickshaws in the city are plying with tampered meters, but enforcement agencies has not taken any action against them so far. We can at least track the distance using the app, but there is no such facility in autorickshaws and taxis,” says K Sathish Kumar, a regular auto passenger.

For the full text (emphasis added by me) of the report in the ToI, click here.

The retrograde provisions in The Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016, one had thought, was challenged by UBER in the courts, leading to the Centre, on its own, coming up with a fresh set of guidelines (check my post of 19th Dec, scrolling above), which was largely acceptable to most aggregators, as also the public at large. But, obviously, it has hurt the vested interests of the "Karnataka Transport Mafia Confederation" (which includes the auto-rickshaw lot too), and thereby the harking to this new tool to harrass the aggregators. Very obvious too, is the fact that the stakes are huge, and it's going to take some doing to keep the mafia at bay, particularly so when a section of the politicos seem to be part of it, or in fact, heading it. What else can be the motivation for the demand to revert to outmoded technologies?

Yes, there were a few issues between the aggregators and their drivers, to which solutions would have to evolve, largely out of dialogue between representatives of the two groups. And, to help arrive at equitable solutions, the matter could ideally been overseen by the UMTA, apart from the main role envisaged for it of being the overseeing authority for the implementation of the guidelines issued by the Centre. All in all, what is needed most urgently is the institution of the UMTA, simultaneous with the winding up of the Transport Deaprtment, and perhaps the ministry too.

Jain (Uber CountryHead) said for Uber to have a sustainable business proposition, the drivers also need to make good money. "If the earnings for drivers are not the most attractive, then we don't have a business to begin with. So we continue to ensure that it is at an optimum level of what a rider is willing to pay and how much earnings make it attractive for drivers," Jain said.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

As I had mentioned earlier too, they seem to know their business, and they are here to stay. It'll be good if the government can accept that fast enough, and facilitate their much appreciated (by the public) role for the benefit of all concerned (except the vested interests).