Residents skip private vehicles, opt for carpooling

Online taxi companies are looking for new methods to attract customers, and after micro and mini cabs they have ventured into carpooling, where people travelling in the same direction can share a ride. As the share taxi facility launched by OLA turned out to be a big success, its rival Uber too is planning to try the technique. 
 

After micro and mini taxi services, OLA launched the pooling service in October 2016. The move was a great success, especially among techies, Uber is planning to launch the scheme under the name 'UberPool.' The online taxi service will roll out the facility in Kochi first and if found successful will extend it to other six major cities in the state. 
 

UberPool is currently available in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad while Ola Share facilities are available in 15 cities across the country. 
 

Carpooling services are more popular owing to its low charges, as low as ₹3/km. "Earlier, a trip from Infopark to Edappally used to cost ₹130. With the shared facility, we can cover same distance for as low as ₹89," said a techie working at Infopark, Kochi. 
 

However, Karnataka Transport Department had banned carpooling services of Ola and Uber stating that they started operations without taking permission from the department. The department is of the opinion that unlike BMTC buses, online taxi services do not have the permission to pick up and drop passengers at different points.
 

Meanwhile, online taxis are facing a huge threat from traditional taxi and auto services. The regular autorickshaws and taxi services are gearing up to launch an app based hiring service to cope with the changing trend. 

• carpooling
• sharing ride
• Ola Share
• Uber Pool
• Infopark