Kathmandu, March 11

The government has again warned against using private vehicles for ferrying passengers.

Issuing a notice late Tuesday, Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has said that action will be taken against private vehicle owners if they are found to be using their vehicle for any other purpose, including transporting passengers.

Reviving the months-old controversy about using motorbikes registered for personal use to transport passengers, DoTM has again warned such service providers to stop doing so.

Furthermore, the department has said that monitoring will be carried out for the same and action will be initiated against those who do not comply with the given direction.

While the DoTM has not named any names, the notice is aimed at ‘ride-sharing’ mobile app-based companies like Tootle and Pathao that have been providing the service in Kathmandu for over a year.

In January last year, the government had barred ride-sharing services for the first time. It had backtracked from the decision after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli intervened and directed the officials not to take any action against such service providers citing their business model was innovative.

Then on November 19, the DoTM had issued a fresh order, instructing not to use private vehicles for purposes other than that specified. But less than a week later, following widespread public criticism, DoTM again decided to allow ride-sharing operations like Tootle and Pathao to carry on as usual until they were brought under a new legal ambit.

However, the government has not formulated any law in this regard till date.

The Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act, 1993 has mentioned that vehicles registered for private use should not be used for public transportation.

Gogan Bahadur Hamal, director general at DoTM, said that until the necessary laws have been formulated and enacted, everybody should follow the prevalent rules.

“However, the government has already started to amend the existing law to allow ride-sharing services to operate legally.”

Earlier, the Patan High Court had directed the government to regulate ride-sharing service providers like Tootle and Pathao by introducing necessary policies. In February, the court issued an order to DoTM, Traffic Police, and other concerned government agencies to bring in effective legislation to regulate such services instead of discouraging them.