NEW DELHI: is piloting a public carpooling platform in Mumbai, becoming the first taxi company to venture into a nascent but highly advocated business that could bite into the cab-aggregation market. Meru, which recently raised $50 million (about Rs 315 crore) from investor IVFA, expects to launch the service — for private car owners to share rides with others — by September. Larger rival Ola, too, is exploring plans to launch a carpooling service. "This will be a true marketplace model. Meru will earn its revenue share from day one by making the passenger and vehicle owner meet on a real-time basis," said Siddhartha Pahwa, chief executive of Meru Cabs. The supports carpooling as a green initiative to mitigate toxic pollution in large cities such as Delhi and has endorsed efforts in this area. But while this opens an attractive opportunity for transport companies, regulatory uncertainties and worries over passenger safety pose potential hurdles, as they have for taxi aggregators. That hasn't stopped a raft of carpooling startups from launching in India in the past two years, such as Smart-Mumbaikar, ZingHopper and Ridingo, which recently acquired. Brazilian startup and French company , too, have launched carpooling services in India focusing on long-distance travel. Private car owners cannot profit from carpooling but can split actual ride costs with passengers, whereas businesses that link car owners with commuters can charge a fee. Jaspal Singh, cofounder of , a research firm for transport companies, said a big concern for the carpooling business is that India doesn't have a legal framework for such firms.
Meru Cabs is piloting a public carpooling platform in Mumbai, becoming the first traditional taxi company to venture into the controversial industry. The company, which has been operating since 2013, will be offering its services on an app called Ola and also through a mobile phone app.