Rising fuel prices turn ‘economical’ carpooling costlier

The tariff for the carpool has increased from Rs 4 to Rs 5.5 per km. This will impact over 3.42 lakh users in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad: Car pool rides have just turned costlier, thanks to the steady rise in petrol and diesel prices. The rise in tariff has been 30 per cent – earlier it was four points for one km ride and that has gone up to 5.5 points per km. Carpool rides are paid in points. Each point is valued at Re 1. In other words, the tariff for the carpool has increased from Rs 4 to Rs 5.5 per km. This will impact over 3.42 lakh users in the city.

The rides are paid in carpool points, which are bought from the platform provider. One point equals one rupee. The ride givers can accumulate these points to redeem them for fuel at select petrol stations or use the same to pay for rides that they take from other cars.

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“The changes have been made due to the rising fuel costs. This apart, there is also an additional expense that the car owners are incurring due to hygiene protocols in view of Covid,” KNM Rao, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Quick Ride, one of the carpool service providers in Hyderabad told Telangana Today.

The petrol and diesel prices in Hyderabad are over the Rs 100 per litre mark.

Quick Ride is a technology platform that connects people travelling on the same route at the same time. It helps with ride matches- same route, same office, same gender. It connects the users to share the ride costs in a cashless way.

Quick Ride has about 3.42 lakh users including about one lakh women. The men have done 16.4 lakh carpools while the women have clocked about 8.3 lakh carpools in Hyderabad since it started its operations here. Now, the number of rides have fallen due to many offices opting to have their employees work from home.

Quick Ride now operates in multiple cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Kochi, Delhi and Mumbai. “Most ride givers are professionals working and are willing to share their car with others going in the same route. A carpool is not run on commercial lines like a taxi but ride-sharing helps the ride givers to meet some of the fuel expenses. It is more of a way to protect the environment and a way to keep some personal vehicles off the road,” he said.

Unlike taxis, carpools do not have a doorstep pick up and drop facility. Here, it is a common point. Also, the route and time are fixed and they operate mainly during office hours, he said.  The app gives out a trip report.

“We are aware of the situation and will look to protect car owners’ interests. Also, there is an increase in the spend due to hygiene, sanitisation and other Covid protocols,” said Lakshna Jha, Founder and Chief Executive of sRide, another carpooling platform.

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