Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Issues Carpooling and Shared Mobility Regulations

New Delhi: Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has issued the Motor Vehicle Aggregators Guidelines, 2020 in accordance with section 93 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, for the compliance of all States/UTs on 27th November, 2020. These guidelines provide a guiding framework to the State/UT Governments to consider for issuance of license as well as regulating the business being conducted by such Aggregators. Provision has been made in the guidelines with regards to Ride pooling as per para 11 of the Guidelines.

Road Transport is a State Subject and as such, initiatives for planning and management of sustainable urban transport system, including steps to address the problem of traffic congestion on roads etc, are taken by the respective cities/States/UTs.

A study has been carried out for Delhi-NCR funded by Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India by TERI-ARAI in the year 2018 which reveals that during winter months, transport sector contributes 28% and 24% to PM2.5 and PM10, respectively. Similarly, during summer months, transport sector contributes 17% and 15% to PM2.5 and PM10, respectively.

Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR & Adjoining Areas has framed a Policy to Curb Air Pollution in the National Capital Region which includes strategies for pollution control from various sectors including transportation.

Further, as per Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), State Governments in NCR and GNCTD and concerned agencies are directed to encourage offices to start unified commute for employees to reduce traffic on road, augment CNG / electric bus and metro services by procuring additional fleet and increasing the frequency of service, and introduce differential rates to encourage off peak travel.

Further, citizens are requested to use public transport and minimize use of personal vehicles, choose a cleaner commute – share a ride to work or use public transport or walk or cycle, combine errands and reduce trips.

Also, Government has launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to improve air quality across the country.