Karnataka wants to make carpooling legal in Bengaluru. The Motor Vehicles Act is in the way

Karnataka’s Home and Transport departments are looking for a way to allow carpooling in Bengaluru to ease the city’s notorious traffic. Legal teams from both departments met on Friday, 3 October, to examine what would be needed.

The legal problem

The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, has no provision for carpooling. Private cars with white number plates cannot be used to carry paying passengers without a transport permit, which is meant for commercial, yellow-plate vehicles. That leaves app-based carpooling in a grey area.

We must amend the existing MV Act. — a senior Karnataka official, on what legal carpooling would need

Minister Priyank Kharge said the government was exploring “several shared-mobility measures, including carpooling and shared rides”, as well as a possible “One City, One Fare” framework for public transport.

Why Bengaluru needs it

• The city had 1.28 crore registered vehicles after 78,084 new registrations in June 2026 alone.
• There are more than 25 lakh cars.
• One traffic expert estimates the annual cost of congestion at ₹20,000 crore.

Already in use

Apps such as Quick Ride already operate in the city. The company says it has 45 lakh users and 40 lakh completed rides. Wipro says 40,000 of its employees are registered on the platform and that carpooling has reduced its parking needs by 12%.

Karnataka has cracked down before. In 2016, the transport department shut down Zipgo, a shared shuttle service. Any change now will need the state to balance commuters’ needs with taxi operators’ interests and passenger safety.

Sources: ThePrint.